Harry Potter and the Once and Future King
by Sorceressoftheshire
Summary: As Harry Potter starts his fifth year at Hogwarts, he has to deal with romance, OWLS, and defeating a dark lord. Although his new Defense teacher seems pretty strange too. Will the mysterious professor be able to help Harry save the wizarding world? When the most powerful wizard in history returns after 1000 years, things are bound to get crazy.
1. A New Beginning

**Chapter 1**

 **Hello Ducklings! So here we are at the beginning of a new adventure! I apologize for the utterly terrible summary for this story, I am really awful at writing those. As I have planned ahead the first few chapters have already been written so expect regular updates for a short while. I was planning on writing the entire story first but because I started writing these over a year ago I figured I had edited it enough to be presentable. I would really appreciate someone who could read through chapters before I publish them and help me with any edits so if anyone is interested in doing that just message me! Sorry this intro has been so long but I had to make sure all my bases were covered. Please enjoy the story!**

 **Disclaimer: Harry Potter and Merlin do not belong to me, neither does the sorting hat song. The only thing I own is the plot. Anything in stars is quoted directly from the book and belongs to J.K. Rowling.**

The scenery rushed by. The dull shades of green blurred together mixed with small weavings of grays and blues. Harry looked out the fogged window of the train. His head rested limply in his hand, oblivious of any conversation around him. The poor boy was tired, as he honestly hadn't gotten much sleep at Sirius's house. Although he knew he had no right to complain; they had all treated him well in the short time he was there.

"Harry!" a voice yelled at him, sounding rather annoyed. His head shot up and he looked around frantically. His eyes finally settled on Hermione, who was rolling her eyes. "We're here" she sighed, and the three of them stood up. Ron smiled weakly at Harry and he felt a pang of guilt at making his best friend suffer through Hermione's chatter alone the entire trip. He would have to make that up to his best friend later, most likely though food. Harry stuffed the few pastries he had left into his pocket and followed his friends from the train.

The three chatted happily and Harry found himself smiling more than he had the entire summer. It was good to be alone with his two best friends again and just mindlessly chatting. In fact, he was so involved in the useless conversation he was having about the new type of chocolate frog that had come out, that he didn't even notice the man who had stopped in front of him.

Harry walked full speed into the stranger's back. He staggered back a few steps and felt himself being caught by Ron's hands. The man turned around and smiled widely at the surprised look on Harry's face.

"I'm sorry" Harry said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment.

The man laughed and Harry felt a dull pang of confusion. He looked too young to be any sort of staff, but too old to be a student. He was rather handsome, but the young innocence of his face was almost unnoticeable due to the electric blue of his eyes. He was immediately reminded of Dumbledore. He saw the same kindness and wisdom, but also the pain.

"That's alright" he said, still smiling widely. He stared over Harry's shoulder absently for a few moments before his blank facial expression quickly morphed into one of slight panic.

"Oh my! I'm going to be late!" he exclaimed, abruptly rushing off. The three fifth years exchanged looks as they watched the strange man rush towards the castle.

"Who the bloody hell was that" muttered Ron, earning a sharp look from Hermione. Harry simply shrugged, but stayed silent.

The three teenagers walked the short distance to the carriages that were meant to take them to the school.

"What're those things pulling the carriages?" Harry asked, looking confused.

"What do you mean mate?" replied Ron giving Harry a strange look, "they're pulling themselves like always."

Harry fell silent. The strange skeletal horses attached to the carriages pawed the wet ground and waited for them to board the carriage. Harry climbed on rather reluctantly and found himself sitting next to an elfish looking girl with white-blonde hair.

"You must be Harry Potter," she said bluntly, staring at him with large blue eyes.

"Uh, yeah. And you are...?" he replied shifting under her intense gaze.

"I'm Luna, Luna Lovegood" she answered.

"Looney Lovegood?" asked Ron tactlessly, wincing as Hermione elbowed him in the ribs.

"He meant that we're happy to meet you Luna" Hermione corrected, glaring at Ron. Luna gave her a smile and the four rode in silence until they reached the castle and climbed down from the carriage. Harry stole one last glance at the strange horses that only he could see and followed his friends into Hogwarts.

Soon the golden trio entered the great hall and Harry couldn't help the smile that crept onto his face. He missed Hogwarts; especially after the less than wonderful treatment he had received over the summer. As he thought of the less than unfortunate things that had occurred over the summer he subconsciously winced, drawing a strange look from Hermione.

Although he may not have to, there was always Sirus...

Harry shook himself from his thoughts as he went to have a seat at the Gryffindor table with the rest of the fifth years. He couldn't go getting his hopes up like that; it never did him any good.

They scanned the staff table and it was obvious that their giant friend was missing.

"Where is he?" muttered Ron in confusion. Harry noticed that many Gryffindors seemed to all be muttering the same question to one and other.

Harry felt a sharp tap on his arm as Hermione pointed to the new chairs filled at the table. As he scanned the faces he felt his stomach drop as he saw a pudgy woman dressed in the pinkest clothing he had ever seen.

"It's that Umbridge woman" he commented quietly, drawing confused looks from some of the people nearest to him.

"She was at my hearing" he explained, "she works for Fudge."

Hermione pointed to the other filled chair at the table and the three recognized the young man Harry had bumped into earlier.

"Oh!" they heard Ginny exclaim, "Neville, Luna and I sat with him on the train, wonderful man, and he's the new..." The doors opening and a long line of first years walking through cut her off. Professor McGonagall walked to the front, stool and hat in hand and the school waited for the traditional song to come. The sorting hat opened its mouth like rip and began to sing:

 _*In times of old when I was new_

 _And Hogwarts barely started_

 _The founders of our noble school_

 _Thought never to be parted:_

 _United by a common goal,_

 _They had the selfsame yearning...*_

Harry found himself listening more intently than ever before to the sorting hat's song. It seemed different this year and looking up he saw the teachers looked surprised too. He sat completely engaged as the hat finished:

 _*For our Hogwarts is in danger_

 _From external, deadly foes_

 _And we must unite inside her_

 _Or we'll crumble from within._

 _I have told you, I have warned you..._

 _Let the sorting now begin. *_

Harry raised his hands to clap with the rest of the room, but felt that the cheery clapping was rather forced. The poor first years looked absolutely terrified. He glanced at the staff table; only to see disgust on Umbridge's face, a horrid understanding on the other new teacher's face, and surprise on the rest.

They watched as the first years were sorted and the line slowly thinned down to the last few. Harry felt a small smile play at his lips as he watched Ron glance at the empty plates with anticipation. Anyone could make the mistake that Ron had been starved by the way he ate and acted around food. He knew Hermione found it rather pig like and disgusting, but it was one of the things Harry loved about Ron. Finally the last first year was sorted into their house and the entire hall turned to look at Dumbledore.

"Welcome all!" he said with a small smile, his half moon spectacles slightly askew, "there is a time for speech making, but that time is later. Tuck in!" Ron turned to the plates and savagely started ripping the chicken apart. Hermione seemed even more disgusted than usual. Harry smiled as she whacked him on the head with her book. He then glanced up at the staff table at their new teachers. It seemed it would be another interesting year.

Merlin sat at the staff table, happily talking to Professor Sprout. She was a likeable woman and he enjoyed sharing his knowledge of world herbology with her. The pink lady-toad next to him kept glaring over at him, although he had no idea why.

Merlin had been residing with a secluded magical tribe in the Himalayas when he felt it. He was rather annoyed as he was having a wonderful time with the Monks, but he knew he would have to return to Hogwarts. He smiled a bit as he glanced around the room. It had been a few hundred odd years since he had actually visited the castle, although he had always kept tabs on the particularly brilliant students who passed through. The last time he had honestly paid attention to what was happening in the mainstream wizarding world was when little baby Harry had defeated Voldemort, although that had been 14 years ago. Merlin had bided his time, learning more than he ever needed to about magic and non-magic folk. He felt rather lonely after so long without a family or home, but knew that Arthur would return eventually. He was excited to show him how much the world had changed. Although he didn't know how well the poor man would take it.

He looked up to the sound of the headmaster talking again and listened, interested.

"Now that we are all watered and fed I must take a few moments if your attention for some quick announcements. First years ought to know that the forest in the grounds is out of bounds to students- although I think this may extend to some of our older students too." Merlin watched as

a number of students in the Gryffindor house exchanged amused looks, immediately recognizing three of them as the students he had bumped into earlier.

"Also Mr. Filch the caretaker has added singing whip-norins to the list of band objects at school. I believe this is number four hundred and thirty seven on the list. If you wish to view it, you may find it posted outside of Mr. Filch's office. As you may have noticed, we have three changes in staff this year. I am pleased to welcome back Professor Grubbly-Plank, who will be in charge of the Care of Magical Creatures lessons. We are all delighted to welcome Professor Emrys, who will now be in charge of Defense Against the Dark Arts lessons; also Professor Umbridge, who will now be appointed as Manager of all Staff and Lessons."

Merlin smiled widely at all the students and watched as a few of the younger ones smiled tentatively back. Dumbledore continued on with announcements about rules and quidditch before he heard a small " _Hem, Hem"_ from professor Umbridge. The headmaster seemed rather surprised for a moment, but nodded graciously to the woman and allowed her to step up to where he had been.

*"Thank you headmaster" she said, her voice dripping sweetly, "for those kind words of welcome."*

Merlin noted how high and girly her voice sounded, rather annoying really.

"I'm honored to meet all of you and I'm sure we will all be wonderful friends" she smiled widely, although it became a bit more forced as some of the students barely suppressed snickers.

"I am here from the Ministry out of a worry for your teaching and some of the staff's teaching methods." Merlin frowned as she glanced at Dumbledore. He noticed the same reaction from some of the students, mainly Gryffindors and Ravenclaws.

"I will be making changes in lessons as I see fit" she finished, before shuffling back to her seat, quite a feat in Merlin's mind, as her skirt was quite tight.

Merlin looked around at the faces in the room. He saw two twins at the Gryffindor table that he immediately pegged as troublemakers, although he didn't get the impression that they were bad kids. As he glanced at the Hufflepuff table he smiled; it had always been his favorite house. They were all good kids with their hearts in the right places. Helga had always been a wonderful person to talk to and he saw a bit of her in each person sitting at the table. Each table had a special place in his heart. The Gryffindors had always reminded him of Arthur and the knights, they were all so lively and fun but always the brave ones; always the ones to risk their lives. The Ravenclaws were the most driven. A bit too focused on one thing for his liking, but he was sure there was a bit of that in everyone. In the past hundred years the Slytherins had gotten a rather bad rap. He knew that most of them had grown up into families who taught them the wrong things, and it would be a while before that changed. Being a Slytherin himself he knew that all they were willing to do anything to succeed, a feeling he knew well.

"Well I think it's time we all head off to bed and prepare our brains for tomorrow!" Everyone began to shuffle out of the great hall and Merlin headed to his room. He was excited; he would get to learn more about the modern wizarding world and the people in it.

He reached his quarters and smiled at the room. It had a four-poster bed, a desk and dozens of bookshelves. He waved his hand and lazily watched as the contents of each suitcase began to fly around the room and into their place. A small black box with the Pendragon emblem placed itself on the table beside him and Merlin willed it to become invisible. That was not something he needed any of the other inhabitants of this school seeing. Books piled themselves in the corners once the shelves became full. It was not long until his room looked more like a library than a bedroom. A banner flew from one of his bags and attached itself to the wall. Merlin felt a pang of nostalgia as he found himself staring at one of Camelot's many flags once again. He watched as a gleaming gold and silver sword carefully attached itself on the wall opposite the flag.

"Excalibur, old friend" he found himself muttering with a small smile. It had been so long since he had actually done inventory on his possessions that he found himself surprised at many of the items placing themselves around his room. Many of them were from his days in Camelot and evoked very strong memories.

He lie back on his bed and sighed. This was going to be a strange year.

 **I'm excited about this crossover and I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. See you soon!**


	2. Settling In

**Chapter 2**

 **Hello Ducklings! I hope you've all been well, but I have chapter 2! I'm going with JK Rowling's idea of having Merlin be a Slytherin, I just like it. Please comment and enjoy everyone!**

 **Disclaimer: Harry Potter and Merlin do not belong to me; the only thing I own is the plot.**

Merlin opened his eyes to find golden sunlight pouring through the open curtains. He groaned as his brain struggled to catch up to his body. He had always hated mornings, especially when he was forced to rise before the sun to cater to Arthur. Sighing, he chided himself for thinking about the past; it always made him rather sad for the rest of the day. Merlin sat up and forced himself out of bed. He stood up, stretched, and walking over to his robes he began to get dressed.

After centuries of living in different cultures, climbing mountains, and trekking through deserts, he had managed to acquire a better build than he had in Arthur's days. He was much better fed and had managed to build a decent amount of muscle on his still lean form. His stomach, once worryingly thin, had filled out enough to have the ghost of abs. His ribs no longer stuck out from the rest of his body, but were still quite visible as Merlin had never been able to build any fat on his body (much to his annoyance). His legs were strong enough to carry his body wherever he went and his arms were muscular enough to aid Merlin in whatever mountain he wanted to climb or river he wished to swim in.

He finished dressing in the plain wizarding robes, but even after all this time found them uncomfortable. Sighing, he undressed and pulled on a pair of form fitting jeans and a large Cal Poly sweatshirt. It had always been his favorite American college. Opening the door to his room, he walked down the hall; only getting lost once or twice on his way. He scanned his memories for the once intricately detailed mental map he had once created on the whole of Camelot, but found it muddled and great pieces lost to time. Even his great mind was unable to remember everything.

Once he reached the great hall, Merlin took his seat at the staff table; unfortunately next to the most unpleasant witch he had ever had the misfortune of meeting, Dolores Umbridge.

He offered her a small smile and a kind "good morning." He reached for the eggs and began to pile them on his gleaming plate.

"Good morning Professor Emrys" she greeted formally in her girly voice. He offered her another smile, but found it rather forced this time.

"I hope you understand that I will be dropping by the defense classes periodically" she said casually, but Merlin knew it was a warning, "I've found it the class that has fallen behind most in the past few years."

"Oh yes, I heard that that hack Lockhart taught a few years ago" answered Merlin with a sad shake of his head.

Umbridge looked scandalized, "Hack?! I would recommend you check your sources Professor Emrys. I was referring to the werewolf that was allowed _within school grounds_ two years ago."

Merlin sighed and swallowed the bit of toast he had been chewing, "oh come now. I personally find werewolves fascinating. The fact that someone is a werewolf has nothing to do with their character or intelligence."

Umbridge huffed and shook her head, "you are very young Professor Emrys, and you seem to have much to learn."

Merlin felt his neutral expression slip into a frown. He knew many of the wizarding population had become very prejudiced, but he had never imagined meeting someone who gave off the vibe of hatred as much as the short woman next to him.

"Blimey, I'm starving" muttered Ron as they walked down to breakfast.

"You're always starving" answered Harry cheekily. Ron punched him lightly on the shoulder and they laughed. Hermione may find Ron's appetite disgusting but Harry found it entertaining. The topic had always been one he had enjoyed teasing his best friend about.

The pair entered the great hall and Hermione called them over. They sat next to her and looked up at the staff table. The new professor seemed to be talking with Umbridge.

"Blimey, I hope he's not one of those Ministry lackeys" Ron muttered through mouthfuls of bacon.

"Doubt it" muttered Harry, as he watched the professor's face slip into a frown and well concealed contempt at Umbridge's words.

"He's so young. I'm sure he's very smart," commented Hermione off handedly.

"Hermione" called Lavender from across the table. Their friend looked up in surprise, the Parvati twin didn't address her often.

"Do you think the new defence teacher is hot?" she asked, giggling with Lavender. Hermione looked scandalized, but kept quiet a small blush creeping across her pale face.

Ron elbowed Harry, "she's blushing." Hermione shot Ron an angry look before standing up and leaving the room.

"She really enjoys storming out of places doesn't she?" muttered Ron, shaking his head. Harry smiled and continued to chew his eggs quietly.

"So what'd you think of the new defense teacher?" he asked his friend, hoping for conversion.

"I dunno mate, he looks too young to be any good at teaching us, but he may be fun" Ron answered absentmindedly.

"The Slytherins are gonna have a field day" Harry said, pitying the new teacher. He glanced over to their table and saw Malfoy, who seemed to be imitating tripping over a long scarf. He rolled his eyes and focused back on his toast.

"So what do we have first?" asked Ron. Harry reached to his pocket to check, and found he had nothing there.

"Oi! Dean," he called across the table. His roommate looked up at him.

"Yeah?"

"What do we have first?"

"Transfiguration, I think."

"Well there you go" he said turning to Ron.

The two then finished their meals mostly in silence, occasionally casting a glare at the Slytherin table. Once they were done, they shuffled out of the hall with most of the other Gryffindors. Other than the fact that they had a new teacher it seemed like a completely normal day and Harry wanted to keep it that way. It was nice, even if it was only for a few hours, to feel...normal; to have a normal life and normal classes and normal peers. Even if he knew it wouldn't stay like that for long.

Merlin waited in his classroom, perched comfortably on top of his desk. He was waiting for his first class with the first year Hufflepuffs. He smiled to himself; he was lucky to get such an easy first class. He really wanted to make a good impression on the young mages, as he would be introducing them to the world of magic.

He was fingering through a book on medieval witch burnings when the first few students walked into the classroom. He glanced up and saw four young girls timidly glancing around.

"Oh! Hello!" he called out cheerily, "please pick any seat and don't worry you don't need to take anything out right now." The four girls shuffled off and sat one next to the other three rows from the front.

He continued to read the book, sighing as he came across another inaccurate fact. He was feeling the need to send a letter to the publishers at this point. Glancing up again he saw that the entire room had already been completely filled with nervous looking students.

"Well hello class! I'm Professor Emrys and I will be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts this year. As you all know there are what we call good wizards and bad wizards...but you see that is not always the case. Although we aren't here to discuss that, we're here to learn to defend ourselves against what we perceive as bad wizards...yes?" He smiled at a young boy who was timidly raising his hand.

"W-well, how can there be wizards who aren't good or bad?" he asked quietly, fidgeting nervously.

Merlin smiled good-naturedly at the boy, "Good people will make bad decisions and bad people will make good decisions. You see, the world isn't black or white...good or evil, there are grays and blues and pinks and no one person is only one color. We need not waste time arguing about what a good man should be, just who we ourselves want to be." The class stared at him with a mix of confusion and interest.

"I believe it is time to get started. I think we should start with a rather simple spell. Please take out your wands." There was a rustling as the students did was they were told.

"Now" he turned and drew a looped line on the board, "practice this movement for a few minutes please." He watched as they began with jerky movements, which after a few moments became much more fluid.

"Good! Now please repeat after me, _Lumos_." There was a chorus of young voices as they recited the spell.

"Wonderful! Now combine the wand movement with the words and let's see what happens!" The Hufflepuffs gave him worried looks, but hesitantly did as he said. Most of the class's wands lit at the tip, except for one young girl who turned red as she noticed she was the only one who had failed.

Merlin smiled happily, "wonderful! But remember the wand movement has to be fluid, not shaky. Don't be nervous!" The girl realized that this was aimed at her smiled, happy that he hadn't called her out in front of the rest of her house.

"Now again!" The class chorused once more and every person's wand lit up this time.

"Marvelous!" he exclaimed, feeling extremely proud of his class.

"Now repeat after me, _Nox_ " The class's wand were extinguished and the bell rang only a few moments after.

"Your homework is to practice the spell we learned today! Have a good day!" The class got up and left the room, chatting happily.

Merlin smiled. He was going to like this job.

 **Sorry if not much plot happened in this chapter. This was a filler chapter, but I had a lot of fun writing about Merlin teaching. I always thought he would be a talented teacher, but also kind and understanding.**

 **Right now I'm leaning for no Gwen. It really just doesn't fit with the plot I have laid out. Although, Morgana may be returning for a final battle with Merlin. I'm not sure about that yet.**

 **Regarding updates: I've been working on this story for a while now so I have at least the outline of the first ten chapters or so. The updates will normally be weekly for a while, but once I run out of pre written chapters it will take longer to get them up. I'm trying to make them longer, maybe 2000-3000 words per chapter and I know this one falls just a bit short of that but please understand that this was a filler chapter. I am still a student and my life will be extremely chaotic for a while so there may be large gaps between chapters. The only reason this one is coming up early is due to the positive response I received regarding the first chapter (and I'm quite sick right now so why not). I would rather publish quality chapters once a month then shorter, chapters that I'm less than proud of once a week and I hope you all will agree with me on this.**

 **I'm so glad that I've received positive response to the story so far! You all have been so kind and supportive. While I will never be one of those authors that threatens to stop the story if people don't review enough, I will say that all your reviews definitely inspire me to write more so thank you all so much!**


	3. The New Teacher

**Chapter 3**

 **Hello Ducklings! So here we have chapter 3, enjoy!**

 **Edit 11/26/17: I wrote this chapter years ago. Suddenly however I've been getting a bunch of comments saying that the classes are too short. I know. The classes are literally 30 seconds and it was a huge mistake I made while first writing this story. But, if you keep reading I made an announcement around...chapter 20 or 21 I think? That once I finish the entire story it will be rewritten. I realize that the beginning of this story can be way too fast paced and hard to read but please if you enjoy the concept just stick with it and it will get much better, I promise. Thank you for taking the time to read my writing and I hope you enjoy my story.**

 **Disclaimer: Harry Potter and Merlin do not belong to me, the only thing I own is the plot.**

The fifth year class was dismissed and the Gryffindors poured from the Transfiguration classroom. Although warm sunlight poured through the many windows adorning the Hogwarts castle the students all seemed rather depressed and sluggish. Even if it had been their first lesson of the day, everyone had already used up every inch of their brainpower trying to keep up with the complex information that had just been thrown at them. Harry and Ron shuffled down the hall, still in a partial coma and Hermione was sorting the many pages of notes she had taken.

"Bloody hell, who would have known OWLS were gonna be so hard" moaned Ron.

Hermione sighed, "well what were you expecting Ronald? Although I will admit that it will be a bit...horrible" she finished with a small smile that made Ron and Harry laugh.

"I don't think I can take a year of this" said Harry rubbing his face and Ron nodded in agreement.

"What've we got next?" Ron asked.

"Defence I think" Hermione answered. Ron stretched his back and winced at the pop he felt.

"Don't tell me we've gotta break in the new teacher" he whined. Harry shrugged and adjusted his bag.

"I'm sure it won't be that bad" said Hermione rolling her eyes, but still not looking too excited.

The fifth year Gryffindors all staggered down the hallway towards the defence classroom. The older students looked at them in pity as they remembered the ungodly amount of work that their fifth year had contained. Two dozen feet shuffled and scraped against the worn stone floor of the castle. Harry glanced out one of the large windows lining the cool walls. He sighed in longing as he watched the early morning sun stream across the emerald grass and mossy stone that coated the Hogwarts grounds.

He jumped as Ron grabbed his arm and pulled his arm towards the defence classroom, "c'mon mate, you're gonna have to be on your toes today. No more daydreaming."

Harry yawned once again, "got it."

"God damned snakes" Ron muttered under his breath. He glared at the small group of Slytherins that were already in the classroom. The three young Hufflepuffs remaining in the classroom glanced at the golden trio, then to the group of Slytherins before rushing from the room in fear. Harry sighed and took a seat near the middle of the room and soon every chair around him was filled with his fellow Gryffindors. He glanced up and saw the teacher sitting cross legged on top of his desk surveying the classroom as they all chose a seat. He looked around the classroom and was unable to keep the small smile from his face as he saw all the diverse objects decorating the classroom. Piles of books in dozens of languages lie in haphazard piles, talismans, decaying tapestries, and beautiful paintings both moving and still adorned the walls. It was extremely obvious that their new professor was better traveled than anyone he'd ever met.

As soon as the last students took their seats, their professor hopped off his desk and smiled warmly at them all.

"Hello everyone!" he greeted, his smile widening more than Harry thought possible. The entire class seemed a bit taken aback by their teacher's clothing. Harry vaguely recognised the large sweatshirt he wore. It somehow didn't surprise him that their professor had been to an American muggle college.

"Alright so today we start with something that you all should know, Conflict avoidance" he started but was almost immediately interrupted by a loud groan from the class, even Hermione rolled her eyes.

Their teacher smiled good naturedly, "wait, wait let me finish. I know that most of you must know this lecture by heart by now. That conflict avoidance is being nice to everyone and solving things with your words instead of your fists and wands. But there's more to it then that. I feel that this class should know this more than anyone else from what I've been hearing about the Gryffindors and Slytherins." Harry could swear he saw a look of sad disappointment cross their professor's face, but it was replaced with a cheerful smile only a moment later.

Ron looked over at Harry and rolled his eyes. Harry sighed in agreement, both would rather avoid hearing the annual lecture on not fighting with the Slytherins for the fifth year in a row.

"I'm not going to tell you that because it's a lie" this got everyone's attention, "I've never understood why people won't just tell teenagers the truth. Of course you're going to meet people where being nice just isn't going to work. I mean _come on_ you're all what...fourteen, fifteen? You know that sometimes being nice to someone doesn't always pay off. Sometimes you're going to just have to deal with them. I don't care if they piss you off, or egg you on, be the better person and just stay above it. You're all going to have to figure this out sooner or later because if you don't you'll end up just like all the witches and wizards we have today. You'll have people losing their lives over someone else's fight" their teacher took a big breath and looked at the class unblinkingly. The Gryffindors stared at their professor in silent astonishment, while most of the Slytherins fidgeted uncomfortably. Most of them looked to Draco for reassurance.

Taking this cue Draco smirked and quietly muttered, "oh come on, he must be, what? Twenty? He talks big but what does he really know? He must have still been a student when we were first years! He must be a Hufflepuff, a big wimp trying to impress the students " Most the Slytherins snickered at this and regained their normal mean natured aura.

"Alright I have one more thing to teach you today " started Professor Emrys darkly, "never make assumptions." Draco tensed at this but maintained his composure, glaring at the teacher.

"Well to address your first complaint, my age. I am much older than I look, and I am much, much stronger than you. If you wish to duel me than I will happily oblige, but I advise against it. To address your second complaint, my house. I hope one day you will understand that your house does not define who you are. Not all Gryffindors are stupidly brave, not all Hufflepuffs are the loyal softies you seem to want to make them out to be, in fact none of them are. Almost none of the Ravenclaws are robotically studious and smart, they just enjoy learning, and I hope you know that not all Slytherins are evil Death Eaters" the professor said calmly.

"He's only defending the Hufflepuffs because he is one" Malfoy muttered to Crabe, although a bit of red tinted his normally pale cheeks.

"Again , assumptions. I am in fact not a Hufflepuff, although I do find the company of that house the most enjoyable" Professor Emrys answered calmly. Utter silence swept throughout the class. One half of the students looked as if christmas had come early, while the other sat in an embarrassed and tense silence. Just as quickly as the dark expression appeared on their professor's face it faded into an aloof smile, "well as I was saying class..."

The bell suddenly sounded throughout the school cutting him off. The professor glared at the clock and pouted.

"Alright, you all seem to have escaped homework" Professor Emrys said and every student looked extremely relieved, "but , I would like to see you for detention tonight and I'd say twenty points from Slytherin for complete disrespect." The professor gave them one last smile and went back to his desk.

The students filed out of the classroom, everyone talking.

"Best. Teacher. Ever." said Ron happily.

"You're just happy that he didn't give us homework" said Hermione, rolling her eyes, but she had a small smile on her face as well.

"He kinda reminds me of Lupin" Ron said, shrugging as they walked towards the great hall.

"Oi! Did you see the way Emrys shut Malfoy down?" asked Seamus loudly as he and Dean ran towards the trio.

"I think he's the best teacher we've got this year" added Dean with a good-natured laugh. Harry and Ron nodded in agreement.

"Oh come on, he hasn't even taught us anything yet...but he did hand Malfoy's ass to him on a silver platter" said Hermione with a small smirk. Ron snorted and smiled at his friend.

"The little weasel deserved it" muttered Harry.

Dean smiled, "I think you mean ferret." The group burst out laughing, Ron had to grab the banister to keep himself upright.

Hermione elbowed Harry and pointed to a group of Slytherin fifth years who were shooting glares at them and the two rolled their eyes.

"But what house do you really think he was from?" Hermione asked, bringing the carefree attitude down a bit.

"I dunno, he seems pretty loyal, but I think he's a Gryffindor" said Seamus.

"Well he said he wasn't a Hufflepuff, and the way he gave that speech makes him seem like a Ravenclaw" said Hermione thoughtfully.

"He's definitely not a Slytherin, no one would go that hard on their own house and he seems like he actually has half a soul" muttered Harry, smirking.

"Yeah Snape proves that theory" snorted Ron, earning a light smack on the arm from Hermione.

The group headed into the great hall and sat down at the Gryffindor table. From a glance, it seemed that the new hot topic was already the new defence teacher's house. Hermione frowned and glanced over at the Slytherin table.

"I hope Malfoy doesn't try to make the new professor's life horrible" she voiced.

"I think that may be quite the difficult task, even for Malfoy. He seemed pretty impenetrable" Ron spluttered through a mouthful of chicken. Hermione snorted but looked a bit disgusted and most of the table smiled and nodded in agreement.

"It's strange" said Seamus, his voice muffled from the rolls he had shoved in his mouth, "it's really hard to tell someone's house when they don't let their parents influence it...or like when you don't already know." The few people that were able to decode his words nodded in serious agreement along with some underclassmen that had been quietly listening.

Even as people began standing up from the table the conversation did not shift from the new teacher and it wouldn't for the rest of the day.

Merlin sat cross legged on his desk, munching on an apple he had nabbed from the great hall. He was reading a rather new book on how muggle activity had been influenced by wizarding conflicts. He sat completely absorbed with the new information he was receiving. He was oblivious to the figure that walked into his classroom and stood for several moments before interrupting him with a small, _hem hem._

"Oh hello Professor Umbridge" Merlin said, with the kindest smile he could muster.

"Oh _hello_ Professor Emrys" she greeted in a sickly sweet voice. Merlin's cheerful smile faltered a bit.

"What can I do for you?" he asked, wanting ever so desperately to return to his book.

"I was just wondering how your classes were going so far" she probed.

"Just splendid, may I ask why you're here?" Merlin said politely.

"Well it is my job to oversee the education of these students. Just to make sure that the information they are receiving is...appropriate" Umbridge answered with a vaguely threatening smile.

"Well ma'am may I inform you that my teaching methods are above standard unlike many of the teachers that have held this position in the past few years. I hope you realize that although I won't be molded into one of your ministry lackeys, these children's education is my top priority" Merlin said with an angry pride lacing his voice.

"Well Professor, I will be watching your classes and if I see anything I don't agree with, you will be dismissed immediately" with that Umbridge stormed from the room.

Merlin watched the plump lady waddle out of the room in her uncomfortable looking pink pumps. He had never understood high heels, they seemed much too painful to be worth the extra few inches. Although everything about that woman seemed uncomfortable to him. He signed and placed his book next to him on the desk. He pulled the sweatshirt sleeves over his bony hands and sighed. From the conversations he had heard today he was doing a rubbish job and laying low. Every student in the school seemed to be discussing his house or clothes or attitude, it was making it rather hard to blend in with the rest of the staff.

He glanced into the hallway and watched some Ravenclaw third years rush by on the way to their next class and smiled. No matter what happened, the kids would make it worth it.

 **Wow guys, the feedback for this story has been so positive so far it's really wonderful. So I've decided for at least the next few weeks that I will be uploading chapters early saturday mornings.**

 **I have read the crossover 'not what you seem' and I love it a lot. I really don't want this story to relate to that story at all because that seems wrong and dishonest to me. Although it does help inspire me to write I want my story to be original and my own.**

 **Just incase I was unclear last chapter Merlin was teaching FIRST year Hufflepuffs not fifth years. And there will be no pairings in this story. I mean many of these chapters will be overflowing with bromance but no non-canon romance. I'm not going to spoil the story when it comes to who will come back, so you'll all just have to wait and see how it goes.**

 **See you all next chapter!**


	4. Old Worries

**Chapter 4**

 **Disclaimer: Harry Potter and Merlin do not belong to me; the only thing I own is the plot.**

Merlin sat in his room with his long legs crossed on the floor. He looked out the large window overlooking the grounds. He sighed and shifted his position so he was leaning against the protruding frame. Lost in memory he failed to notice when Professor McGonagall approached the doorframe. She sat for a long time, watching the young teacher gaze out the window with a tearful look. Staring at that lake Merlin was reminded of his only love that was taken before he even got the chance to know her. He thought of his old friends and sitting in that cavern with Arthur and laughing until their guts hurt.

McGonagall was about to call out to Merlin when she noticed a small tear roll down his face and a wistful smile grace his lips. McGonagall cleared her throat and winced a bit when Merlin jumped at the noise. He turned to face her and absently wiped his face and seemed surprised when he found it was wet.

"Are you alright Professor Emrys?" she asked, her motherly core shining through her stern exterior for a brief moment

"C-call me Ben, Minerva" he sniffed, his cheeks turning an embarrassed shade of red.

"I'm sorry for intruding, may I ask what's bothering you?" she probed kindly.

Merlin stood, "just remembering...old friends who I haven't seen in forever."

She nodded, "I have many close friends from school who I haven't talked to in a very long time." 

Merlin nodded, his eyes becoming unfocused, "Arthur and I... God he was a prat, but he was like a brother to me...my family."

McGonagall smiled a bit at this. She was reminded a bit of Remus's confessions to her when Sirius's innocence was proved. "I'm sorry you lost contact, have you considered stopping by his house and trying to reacquaint yourselves?"

Merlin shook his head sadly, "Arthur...he died a long time ago."

McGonagall felt a dull pang of shock, "I-I'm so sorry...I didn't think..."

Merlin smiled at the old woman, "It's alright Minerva, it was a very long time ago and I think we've all lost friends at some point in this war. Now if I may excuse myself I need to teach my next class." She nodded stiffly and walked from the room.

"One thousand years Arthur...how long am I gonna have to wait?" Merlin muttered with a small smile, thinking of the horse rides, early morning awakenings, unmatched sword fights, and every other moment he had spent with Arthur.

Draco Malfoy walked down the halls, his hands shoved deep in his robe pockets. A permanent scowl distorted his handsome features. He looked around the deserted corridor and, once he confirmed that it was empty, felt his face relax into an expression of loneliness and apathy. Looking back, the Slytherin could pinpoint exactly where everything in his life had gone wrong.

Meeting Harry bloody Potter.

Granted he probably hadn't made the best impression on his nemesis, but nothing he had said in their first meeting had been out of character. He had come across as a prejudiced and immature child.

Which he was.

What most people didn't realize about Draco Malfoy was that he was a lot more perceptive than his peers gave him credit for. He realized that the course his father had created for him wasn't the best option; be it morally or physically. He knew that his father was trying to convince Voldemort to recruit him. Merlin knows the man could use an unsuspecting spy inside the castle but he had doubts. Although his pureblood prejudices had followed him through his five years at Hogwarts, he had also acquired sharp shreds of doubt. When he looked at Harry he saw a boy weighed down by the weight of the world, but he also saw a desperate need for acceptance and family. When he looked at Harry Potter, he saw himself reflected back at him.

Letting out a deep sigh, he leaned against the windowsill and felt the cool mist caress his face. It was only in moments like these, where no one was near to witness his weakness, that he really let the weariness and fear surface. He hung his head in defeat and surrendered to the thoughts of doubt and regret that had plagued him for the past few months.

It all came back to Harry Potter.

When the boy wonder had apparated back into the open clutching the body of that Hufflepuff Diggory did it all become real. Draco finally realized that the war he had barely missed had been real, and that the people that had died during that war had been real people with real families who had lost their lives.

All his life he had believed he was sheltered from suffering and pain. He had been born into an extremely privileged family with parents who cared enough about him. But it plagued him with guilt every time he looked back at his quips on Potter's dead parents or Longbottom's broken family that he thought were so clever at the time. What kind of person made fun of someone's dead parents?

Maybe he was cut out to be a death eater after all.

"Mr. Malfoy?" called a voice quietly, yanking the young heir from his thoughts. Immediately he plastered a scowl back onto his pale face, replacing a look of loneliness and sadness that would have seemed very out of place on his face to most.

He grudgingly looked up to see the new defence teacher, giving him a curious look as he leaned against the ancient stonewall a few feet away from Draco. He stared at the strange man for a few moments before moving his eyes back to stare at the school grounds.

"What sir" he answered, practically spitting out the last word, although it didn't have the venomous undertones that his words normally held.

Merlin looked the boy up and down knitting his eyebrows in a mixture of worry and confusion, "I've heard some...troubling rumors about you." Draco glanced at the Professor before returning his eyes to the window.

"And?" he muttered.

"Is it true you've been calling other students Mudbloods?" Merlin questioned, his expression hardening into an anger that didn't quite reach his eyes.

"So what if it is?" Draco snarled, turning to face Merlin.

Merlin's posture stiffened, making him look quite intimidating, "I'm not sure you understand the severity of that word Mr. Malfoy."

"So what if I do? Who cares?" Draco asked, his face softening a bit as he broke eye contact with the professor to gaze out the window once again.

Merlin sighed seeing the saddening expression on the young man's face, "please come with me Mr. Malfoy" and seeing the boy's reluctance to follow, he added, "you're not in trouble, I just want to talk to you."

Merlin led the way to his office and once the two were safely inside he closed the heavy wooden door behind him.

"Mr. Malfoy, how old were you when you first heard that word?" he asked, taking a seat in the black cushioned chair behind the heavy oak desk.

"When I was five" Draco answered carefully, studying the young professor's expression. He felt a bit of surprise when it morphed into one of frustration and disappointment, but he saw no trace of anger.

"That's...very disheartening Mr. Malfoy" he finally said, visibly deflating.

"Why?" Draco blurted out feeling a pang of anger.

"I'm sure you understand that no child is born with hate in their hearts" Merlin said quietly, moving his gaze to meet the Slytherin's. Draco stared at him for a moment before nodding slowly. He didn't know what it was, but something angered and unnerved him about the young professor. How dare this man question his family?

"I guess it's hard to blame you for your prejudice when that's all you know" Merlin admitted, looking much older then his face actually was. Draco looked ready to start yelling at the professor, but took a deep breath to calm his emotions.

"I..." Draco started before trailing off, not sure what to say. He expected a reprimand and lecture, not sympathy and understanding. Merlin looked at him expectantly while Draco struggled to continue his thought.

"I don't need your sympathy," he finally decided on, giving the professor a glare.

"I know you don't, you're a strong kid" Merlin said quietly, "but how much of your actions are actually yours? How much of what you do is simply because of your parents hatred?"

Draco felt a wave of anger wash over him, how dare this man continue to question his family! He swallowed his reply when Merlin raised a hand.

"I understand that your parent's hatred was passed down to them just as it was to you, but does that make it right? By understanding the past you can understand the future and unless you try to break the cycle, life will simply repeat itself over and over again" said Merlin, with a wisdom beyond his years, "I would like you to think about what we've discussed here today and consider this your detention" smiled Merlin with a mischievous wink.

Draco stood up and walked from the room, unable to organize the thoughts swirling around his head. All Merlin had done was confirm worries that he already had and Draco had no idea what to do with that.

Merlin sighed once the platinum haired boy was out of sight. How much of the hatred towards magic had stemmed from Uther. How would the world have changed if he hadn't placed those seeds of hatred in non-magical folk? Maybe if the wizarding world hadn't been forced to hide itself then this power complex wouldn't exist.

Although wizards were more powerful, every other species in the world was more logical, kind, and accepting.

Those were traits Merlin valued much more than power.

Stretching, Merlin stood up from his desk and walked from the small office. Only realized how late it had become when he saw the moonlight shining through a window. Yawning, he started in the direction of his quarters. He stopped suddenly when he saw two students wandering around the halls, long after curfew.

The boy, Harry and his flaming haired friend were sneaking down the hall, their arms full of food.

"Shut up Ron!" Harry muttered in an attempt to quell his friend's chattering.

"It's not like anyone can bloody hear us Harry, this hallway's always empty. Always" Ron answered, rolling his eyes.

"Oh Mr. Weasley, nothing's _always_ empty" Merlin said, a mischievous smile blooming on his face. He was forced to hold back laughter as Ron jumped so high he dropped most of his food on the floor.

"Professor!" exclaimed Harry, looking like a child who was caught stealing cookies (which he was).

"Out of bed I see?" Merlin muttered, clicking his tongue in mock disappointment, "what will we do with you two troublemakers?"

The two boys exchanged worried looks before looking at their professor again, "we're really sorry sir, but we've been studying for hours and we just wanted something to help keep us going" Harry said all this in one breath, still worried about what the new teacher might think of rule breaking.

Merlin laughed, "that's okay boys, would you like to come into my office? I may have some books that could help you." Ron and Harry looked at each other before nodding reluctantly. Merlin smiled and ignored his fatigue, heading back the way he had come.

Harry didn't feel any surprise as he walked into the young teacher's office. It was covered from ceiling to floor with books. It seemed much more homely than many of the times he had seen it, although that may be due to the raging fire in the fireplace.

"Now then, what subjects do you seem to be struggling with the most?" Merlin asked glancing absently at the many hundreds of books in the room.

"Potions probably..." muttered Ron, "the bloody teachers got it out for us."

Harry elbowed Ron sharply and made a quick shushing movement, but not before Merlin turned to face the two boys.

"Although Severus and I are not particularly friends, he does know his potions," muttered Merlin shaking his head.

"Well, let's see. What always helped me was learning a bit about the back story on the people who invented the potions...let me see here." He scanned the shelves before pulling a newer one. Upon further investigation the two boys were able to see it was a copy of the fifth year potions textbook.

"Which one do you struggle with the most?" Merlin asked, fingering through the pages of the book.

"Probably Draught of Peace...Snape practically failed me for misreading instructions" muttered Harry bitterly. Merlin clicked his tongue and shook his head disapprovingly, " _Professor_ Snape Mr. Potter" he turned back and gave Harry a small smile to show he wasn't actually mad.

"I've heard quite a few things about Severus, and I think we may be having some words with each other soon" Merlin said absentmindedly, not noticing Harry and Ron exchange surprised looks.

"Well let's see...this particular potion was created by Matilda Peterson" Merlin muttered before his eyes lit up and face was filled with excitement.

"Of course! I knew Matilda, wonderful witch. You see, she was a seventh year student who like many, had a difficult in many of her NEWT classes. Matilda was more of a healer type. She watched her peers have panic attacks, and having many too, she decided to try to help it. She spent many nights up trying to perfect that darn potion. Having an extensive knowledge of Herbology, much like your friend Neville, she was aware of the effects that the ingredients she was using and how they influenced different parts of the human body. The method she used to create this was much like a muggle Doctor. After many months she managed to get the potion to work. Although it wasn't near perfect it did the trick, and they still tend to hand a bit of it out to stressed students during testing season I think" Merlin finished his story with a thoughtful look.

"That...was actually pretty interesting Sir" said Ron awestruck.

Merlin laughed, "don't sound so surprised. What I wanted you two to take from that was that not everyone would excel in every subject. Hard Work is extremely important but when you get to NEWT level classes you can't expect to excel in every subject. Mr. Potter I've heard that you are quite the Quidditch prodigy and that Mr. Weasley has quite the knack for strategy. You have to learn how to incorporate your strengths into your weaknesses. Matilda was not a potions prodigy, but she did understand Herbology and the human body and she ended up passing a NEWT level potions class with the second highest grade in her year."

Ron and Harry glanced at each other, both smiling brightly. Harry was reminded of a certain werewolf and Ron couldn't help but laugh.

"That sounds very Slytherin of you professor" he commented with a playful smile.

Merlin smiled at the two boys and shook his head, "thank you Mr. Weasley. Now I think the two of you should get back to your common room before someone finds you in my office this late at night."

Ron and Harry stood and left the room quietly chattering quietly and Merlin sighed to himself. If even the teachers were supporting the rivalry, it would be a lot harder to destroy then he thought.

 **I'm so glad everyone has enjoyed the feedback so far! This is the longest chapter yet and I'm actually very proud of it. For anyone that was confused Merlin has attended Hogwarts many times over the years, he tends to go back when he hears about a powerful wizard or tensions are running thin in the wizarding world (as they are right now). He can change his physical appearance with a sort of glamour so that's why no one recognized him. I'll see you all next week please continue to enjoy my story!**


	5. The Mistake

**Chapter 5**

 **Disclaimer: Harry Potter and Merlin do not belong to me; the only thing I own is the plot.**

Merlin leaned against his desk as he watched his last class of the day begin to slowly filter into the classroom. He squinted against the rays of late afternoon sun that poured brightly though the large window to his left. Merlin felt a stab of disappointment when it was clear that the class was segregating itself, leaving a row of empty desks between the two houses. What had happened at Hogwarts that had made house prejudices this unyielding? The last time he had been almost a century ago, but even he knew that when these children's parents attended this school that there were alliances, friendships, and even romances between feuding houses. He couldn't fathom how all that had changed so quickly.

He knew he couldn't completely blame the innocent children sitting in front of him. Every prejudice they had was either a result of their parents or the influence of other students. The Warlock found it was very irritating how bad most wizarding parents are. Although to be fair many muggle parents try to live though their children as well.

As soon as the last student sat down, he plastered his usual lopsided smile onto his face, "good afternoon class! Today our normal classes will be postponed, as I must administer a ministry-required test to all 5th year students. He waited for the groans and panicked yells of 'we didn't get a chance to study!' died down.

"Alright, alright. Have any of you ever heard of the Ministerium exams before?" he asked, taking a seat on his desk. Surprisingly Draco Malfoy raised his hand, drawing some surprised looks from the other Slytherins.

"Yes Mr. Malfoy?" asked Merlin.

"The Ministerium exam is used to measure the amount of magic and magic containment in young wizards over the age of 14" he answered in a robotic, monotone voice.

"Very good Mr. Malfoy! And does anyone know why it is only administered to witches and wizards over the age of 14?" he continued. Hermione's hand shot into the air, but Merlin was drawn to the tentative hand raised a few chairs away from her.

"Mr. Longbottom?" he said warmly. The entire class turned to face the chubby cheeked boy, it was obvious that he did not normally speak in class.

"W-well, it's because a magical being's energy peaks at around 15 years o-old...so, that's when the test is most a-accurate" he stammered out, completely red in the face by the time he was finished.

"Wonderful!" Merlin exclaimed, clasping his hands together, "the Ministry is strangely obsessed with keeping power tabs on magical youth. They're always keeping an eye on anyone who's powerful enough to become the next dark lord." The entire class began to shift uncomfortably at this. It was hard for any of them to imagine that the person sitting next to them could be pushed to that sort of evil.

"Now, in this box are Bellum Crystals. They have the power to measure the power inside of any creature of the old re-sorry, any magical creature." Merlin cursed himself at the slip-up, but the students seemed not to notice. He sighed internally; he was getting too old for this. He tapped the box with his wand and watched as the jagged, black crystals floated to each desk.

"Now if everyone would look at the bored and check the charts before you take the crystals. The amount of power is judged by the color, which follows the rainbow. Red being least powerful and violet being most powerful. How bright the crystals glows show how much access one has to that power. Let me warn you. The amount of power one has does not determine how good of a wizard they are. People with less power have more access and people with more power have less access. So it normally comes out even." He motioned for his students to pick up the stones.

"Grip them tightly then check them after ten seconds." When ten seconds was up, each student peered excitedly into their palms and turned to share their results with each other.

Ron peered wearily into his hand and Harry could not help but laugh at the expression his best friend made.

"What does it look like mate?" Harry wondered trying to peek into his friend's hand.

"It's kinda a yellow-green color and I dunno it's not super bright..." Ron muttered.

"I'd say a five or six" said Hermione glancing over at Ron's hand. Harry held back a laugh as his friend's face as it turned slightly red.

"What about you Hermione?" Harry asked.

"Well it's yellow and glowing pretty bright actually" she said rather proudly. Ron rolled his eyes and Harry just smiled. She leaned over and looked over at Harry's rock and sighed.

It was a green color with a small tint of blue glowing about the same as Ron's.

"Don't let Malfoy see" Ron muttered as they looked over to see most the Slytherin's shielding their eyes from his blinding stone. Harry rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Hey! Look at Neville!" exclaimed Hermione and every person in the class turned to stare at the poor boy. His stone emitted a dull glow but shone a bright indigo.

"It's so pretty!" exclaimed Lavender and most of the girl's in the class nodded in agreement.

Merlin wandered around the room, copying down each result.

"Professor why is Parvati's stone bright and bluey purple?" complained one of the girl's in Slytherin, making everyone look a bit jealous.

"Well it's because she has a fair amount of power and access to it, which isn't common but not impossible."

"Is it possible to gain more access to your power?" asked Harry curiously.

Merlin smiled at the boy, "I wouldn't suggest that Mr. Potter. The reason why access and level normally even out is because a wizard's body cannot handle that kind of power. It was an evolutionary step when most of the power in our magical reserves was locked away from us, as a thousand years ago it was easy for a wizard to overload their core and die.

"But it is still possible to drain your magical reserves, especially when casting complex and powerful spells. So if any of you feel fatigued or nauseous after casting a spell, please report to Madam Pomfrey immediately." Most of the students looked completely terrified after this and Merlin felt a bit guilty.

"Although it is VERY hard to completely drain your reserves, so I'm sure none of you have anything to worry about" he added, failing in comforting the still weary looking students.

"What does your stone look like?" asked Seamus curiously.

"Ah, it doesn't matter" Merlin muttered, waving off the question.

"He's probably next to powerless," whispered Malfoy, loud enough for most the Slytherins to hear him.

A look of disappointment crossed Merlin's face, "five points from Slytherin for disrespect Mr. Malfoy. I'm surprised the other teachers have let you get away with that mouth of your's for five years." Looks of glee passed over most of the Gryffindor student's face and contempt and annoyance from the Slytherins.

"Now if you would all take out a piece of parchment and a quill, please write down your names, houses, and results. After you finish this place them in a pile on the empty desk up here and place your stones back in the box.

He looked out the window again as he waited for the students to finish. The afternoon sun was warm and beautiful and Merlin wanted nothing more than to take a long stroll around the Hogwarts ground. He was yanked out of his thoughts when a voice yelled, "Hey Professor Emrys: catch!" Instinctively Merlin's hand shot into the air and grabbed the object that had been thrown at him. Realizing what it was a second too late; a bright pink light filled the room, resembling a sightly pink sun. Quickly, Merlin tossed the crystal into the box, his mind filling with dread.

Looking at the faces of the students in front of him, he was met with a mixture of awe, confusion and fear. Merlin's mind went blank as he tried to think of a lie to get him out of this.

"Class dismissed" he finally said shakily, "and thirty points from Slytherin. I expect to see you after class for the next week Ms. Parkinson."

Merlin visibly deflated as the last student shuffled out of the room. Many of them whispered in hushed tones to each other, some casting worried glances back at him. How many more mistakes until someone figured something out? He knew at some point he would have discussed his secret with Dumbledore, but this was too soon. How incompetent was he if he couldn't even hide his identity from a bunch of fifteen year olds? What if it was impossible to break the hatred between houses; was his mission futile?

It was then that he saw a fifth year Hufflepuff outside the partially open doors to his classroom. The boy, Ernie Macmillian seemed to be holding back tears. Merlin remembered that the boy's crystal had been a dull orange and he had seemed extremely upset over it. Merlin was about to go comfort the boy when the Ravenclaw that sat behind him, Terry Boot, walked up and placed a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder. He offered him a small smile and said something that Merlin could not hear. Ernie gave the other boy a small smile and the two turned and walked down the hall together, a ghost of laugher reaching the Warlock's ears.

Merlin felt his resolve strengthen and a determined smile blossomed on his lips. He could repair the bonds between the houses and he wouldn't fail.

For the next half hour he was completely absorbed in his thoughts of the future, so he barely noticed the large, billowing form that entered his room. The man stood there for a few seconds before clearing his throat, an action Merlin was unaware could sound so threatening.

"Emrys" Snape snarled.

"Can I help you Severus?" Merlin asked kindly.

"I've heard quite a few accounts of you..." he paused for a moment, "unfairly targeting my students."

"I'm sorry professor, I have no idea what you're talking about. Any punishment I've given to any member of your house has been completely appropriate. I must admit though, this is a bit rich coming from you" Merlin stated, daring the angry man to reply.

Snape looked disgusted, " _Rich?"_

"Well I know of quite a few students that are quite terrified of you Severus. You seem to pick on them in class like a primary school bully, which I must say is rather disappointing" Merlin answered calmly.

" _And why is that"_ Snape asked, his voice dangerously quiet.

"Well I would think the head of Slytherin house would do his best to not make his house look like a breeding ground for villains and bullies, not act like one yourself" Merlin announced passively before standing from his desk chair and exiting the room. He was done dealing with the Slytherin house today.

As Merlin walked down the hall, even the youngest students could sense his foul mood and tried their best to avoid the teacher.

Merlin walked out onto the ivy covered stone stairs on a deserted section of the castle. He sat on the slippery steps and placed his head in his hands. He never would have imagined teaching would be this taxing.

"Excuse me" a small voice muttered, just in front of him. Merlin looked up to see a beautiful ghost, floating in the column just next to him.

"Ah, Helena" Merlin said kindly, smiling at the woman. The ghost offered him a rare smile, which Merlin returned almost immediately.

"It's been a while old friend" she said, her face almost looking a bit sad.

"That it has" Merlin sighed, moving his head so he could focus on the foggy forest just ahead.

"Why have you come back?" she probed gently.

"Voldemort returned, so I did too" he answered quietly, "his ability to harness the darkest of magic a-and defy the laws of nature...the Old Religion is hurting Helena..."

The ghost's face seemed to twist in sadness at the pain in her friend, "t-that man..."

"The diadem was not your fault Helena...it was never your fault..." he said sadly, eyes still trained on the misty forest so far below him.

"Please not this again" she whispered sadly.

Merlin forced out a half laugh and a small smile, "had to try didn't I?"

The Grey Lady sighed, "I guess so."

"I...I can feel it, the rip in the Old Religion that Tom caused. It feels as if someone ran a blade down my chest" Merlin confessed quietly.

Helena stayed silent, only giving her friend a look of pitiful empathy. They stayed like that for many moments more before a soft voice shattered the silence.

"Hello Helena." Merlin looked to find a silver haired girl smiling softly at the pair.

"Luna, it is good to see you" she answered kindly.

"Hello Luna" said Merlin quietly. She offered him a warm smile before continuing on her way.

"She is one of my favorite students" said Merlin with a small smile.

"Her soul is pure," added Helena.

The two friends sat in a nostalgic silence for many moments more as they watched the silver mist swirl and envelope the darkened forest. They both felt fear at the words Merlin had said and what they would bring.

 **Hey guys! I'm so sorry this is late but the website wasn't working for me yesterday so I had to wait to upload this. Sorry this chapter is a bit short, but the one next week will be longer, I promise. I'm so glad I've gotten such positive feedback on this story and I hope you all like this chapter as much as the last ones!**


	6. The Darkness

**Chapter 6**

 **Disclaimer: Harry Potter and Merlin do not belong to me, the only thing I own is the plot.**

 _He sat in darkness; any feeling he may have felt was nullified by the utter nothingness around him. A misty grey smoke leaked from invisible cracks in the nothing, completely filling the pitch-black space. It hardened in front of him, forming a long obsidian hallway. He felt himself move forward and the details around him blurred as his subconscious form sped through the endless corridor._

" _So close..." whispered a bone chilling voice, echoing around the empty corridor. Waves of sound bounced back at him their malicious joy almost visible in his dream state._

 _Suddenly the smoke returned, waving around forming strange patterns as if pushed by nonexistent wind. It took a strange rectangular shape, like shelves built up high above the ground. It then formed crude humanoid shapes whispering things lost to his ears. The figures roamed around, completely oblivious of their visitor in the endless black room._

 _Harry felt his stomach tighten once again as the horrible voice entered his mind once again._

" _I shall know soon...finally...I shall win..."_

 _He felt himself backing away, in the hopes to escape something he couldn't see. He felt his lungs close as he backed straight into one of the smoky figures. He was enveloped in the deadly grey mist and it entered his ears and clouded his vision. Taking a desperate gulp of the smoke in hope of finding air, his mind began to burn and a strange ache in the center of his chest started up. Unable to escape, he fell to the floor, everything around him slowly fading as the grey smoke corrupted his soul._

Harry shot up in his bed gasping and shaking. He brought his hands up to his face and found that his entire body was covered in a cold sweat. His pajamas were soaked through and he felt a hand on his shoulder. He glanced up to see Dean Thomas looking at him with eyes filled with worry. For some reason the ache in the center of his chest hadn't diminished but Harry ignored it.

"All right?" he asked quietly, removing hand from Harry's shoulder awkwardly.

"Y-yeah...sorry 'bout that" Harry muttered, his head in his hands.

"It's cool mate...Ron brought up some toast a while ago. It's probably cold now though" Dean rambled awkwardly.

Harry managed a smile and pushed himself out of the tangled bedding, "it's alright, and I'm not that hungry anyways." He glanced over at the clock and sighed.

"You better head to class Dean, or you'll be late."

His friend offered him another smile and picked up his book bag, "I'll tell Flitwick you're not feeling well." Harry nodded gratefully and watched his roommate walk out.

Harry sat still for a few more moments watching the door Dean had just left though before he grasped his stomach and emptied its contents on the floor besides him. Groaning he lie back in his bed, groping for his wand to clean up the mess.

It took him almost five minutes to finally find it, and even them it was almost impossible for him to cast any sort of cleaning spell. It was as if every bit of magical energy had been drained from his body. He sat in the hot sweaty torture that was his sheets for the next hour before Ron barged into the room, his face full of worry.

"Harry! What's wrong mate?" he asked in the quietest yell he could manage. Even then it still made Harry's head throb. He managed no more than a groan and felt his stomach heave again.

He managed a glance at his friend and saw how how terrified he looked. "Neville! Go get Mcgonagall!"

Harry groaned again at the noise and realized his face as screwed up in pain and discomfort. After a few more minutes he heard more voices enter the room, all sounding worried.

"...Move him..." was all he managed to catch before he passed out again.

Instead of the horrible nightmares that had recently graced him with their presence, Harry's mind could only conjure disjointed colors and shapes as the fever began to overtake him. Single words raced through his mind at top speed, and even unconsciously he could feel himself writhing and groaning.

Distantly, he felt someone pry his mouth open and pour a tasteless liquid into it. He spluttered a bit, but eventually he felt it drip down his dry throat.

It seemed like forever, but eventually he felt himself slip from his hallucinogenic sleep into a shallow coma.

Harry lay still in his bed, not even shifting in his sleep. Two chairs were pushed up next to the bed, one holding a tall boy with flaming red hair and another a petite girl with a giant bush of brown. They both had their heads resting on the small space on the bed not taken up by their friend's unconscious body. The door of the hospital wing opened slowly and Minerva Mcgonagall entered with light feet. The old woman glanced over at her friend who was compulsively organizing the potions that she had in stock.

"How's he doing Poppy?" she asked quietly, eyeing the children sleeping just to her left.

"I...I've never seen anything like it Minerva" the healer stammered, "his magical reserves are completely drained and he's running a fever of 104 degrees. If this doesn't improve soon we're going to have to transfer him to St. Mungos."

The transfiguration teacher nodded morbidly and sighed, "I just don't understand how this happened...Dean Thomas said that he had been up most the night and soon after he did fall asleep. But...how could a nightmare ever do this?"

Madam Pomfrey shook her head, "I can't think of what could be wrong...I just...Not even insomnia could explain even a fraction of his ailments."

The head of Gryffindor house shook her head and silently exited the room, unable to see her student in that state for any longer. She found herself wrapped in her own thoughts and doubts as she walked down the halls of the castle, poor Harry had been through enough, but this? This was something none of them had ever seen before.

"Oh!" she yelped as she ran straight into someone, causing their towering pile of papers to fly into the air and drift away in every direction. She looked up to find Professor Emrys blushing and rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"I'm sorry Minerva I'm a bit out of it at the moment" he said quietly, bending down to grab the papers. After a moment he seemed to remember that he had magic and drew his wand and waved it, gathering all the papers in one fluid moment.

"No Ben, it's not your fault. One of my students, Harry Potter...he seems to be very sick at the moment" Mcgonagall sighed, rubbing her tired eyes.

"He seemed fine yesterday, what happened?" Merlin asked, concern evident on his youthful features.

"We...we have no idea" she admitted, shaking her head before an idea suddenly slapped her in the face, "maybe...if you wouldn't mind...you could take a look? You seem to be better traveled than any other person in this school." Merlin studied the barely hopeful look on his coworker's face and handed her the papers he was holding.

"I would be happy to. Would you mind taking these to my office?" he replied, giving the older witch a reassuring smile.

After she nodded, Merlin began to walk towards the hospital wing. Minerva looked after the young man hoping to Merlin that he could help Harry.

Merlin arrived at the hospital wing to find Madam Pomfrey fixing a young Ravenclaw's broken nose. She inspected the child's bloodied face and tutted in annoyed disappointment.

"Now why in the world were you all messing with Peeves anyway? I just can't...Ben!" the older lady jumped a bit when she saw him standing in the wide doorway of the Hospital Wing.

"I'm sorry Poppy I didn't mean to startle you" he said apologetically, "Minerva wanted me to take a look at Harry and see if I could help him in any way." A small frown appeared on Madam Pomfrey's face, angry that people were no longer confident in her healing skills.

"You know, just because I've been to a lot of remote magical villages and remote corners of the earth, she thought I may have seen something similar to this before" he continued quickly. Her frown was appeased a little and the healer went back to healing the young girl's nose.

Merlin quickly walked across the room and took a seat next to Harry's bed and examined his face. His skin had a sickly pallor to it, and deep bags underneath them, pointing to his chronic insomnia, accented his eyes. Merlin sighed sadly; a boy this young did not deserve all the pain that had been engraved into his soul.

Taking a calming breath, Merlin placed a hand on either side of the boy's sleeping face. His eye slipped shut as he felt his own magic melded with Harry's, not that there was much left for his magic to grasp on to.

He had never seen magical reserves this dangerously low before and he felt a sense of dread wash over him. Inhaling deeply, he pushed himself into Harry's reserves and found that the space normally occupied by the intangible golden substance of magic was instead filled with a foreboding grey mist. It was twisting and turning, slowly absorbing the small amounts of magical residue that Harry had left. Knowing he had to act soon, Merlin focused the majority of his magic into a form so compact it was almost solid. He then used the invisible bridge formed by their connected magics and sent the ball of magic into Harry's soul. Merlin's eyes opened slightly as his breathing quickened and anyone watching him would have immediately noticed that they shone pure gold. The center of Harry's chest glowed a dull gold for only a moment, before he unconsciously opened his mouth and a small puff of grey mist floated away into the air.

Quickly retracting the ball of magic, Merlin pulled away and tried to calm his erratic breaths and shaking hands. Due to his distraction, he was completely unaware of the pair of obsidian eyes that peered around the doorframe of the Hospital Wing, watching his every move. Merlin almost jumped when a light and kind hand was placed on his right shoulder.

"Well?" Madam Pomfrey asked quietly, carefully observing his facial features.

"I believe I have seen this before. While I was in Egypt a year or so ago, I visited a very remote tribe of wizards and witches. At one point during my stay a man came stumbling into the camp, he seemed extremely sick and it wasn't long before he lost consciousness and started to fade away from us. The tribe's healer eventually recognised what it was, but not before it was too late to save him. Someone had drained the man of all his magic...and as you know our magical reserves are something we can't live without.

"I believe that if you cast some simple charms on him it may help. His body is so desperate for magic that any cast on him will be absorbed straight into his magical core."

Madam Pomfrey nodded quickly and drew her wand. Merlin stood slowly, his shaking hands hidden in the pockets of his trousers.

"Please keep me updated on Harry's status" he asked quietly, before walking from the room.

Merlin walked swiftly down the shadow-infested hall before turning into the first empty classroom he could find. As soon as he entered, he gave the door a weak shove, attempting to close it. It was left open enough that a small crack of room was visible from the hall. He gripped his pounding head and found himself leaning against the nearest wall for support. The magic inside Harry Potter was not one of New Magic, but not one of the Old Religion either.

It was evil. Pure evil.

It had completely drained Harry's magic and Merlin had felt a bit of it seep into him when he had entered the boy's mind and soul. He could feel his magic fighting inside him, but was not aware enough to see the effect he was having on the furniture surrounding him. The desks and chairs closest to the cracked door and farthest away from Merlin only shook, but the closest shook so violently that they eventually turned to dust. Merlin held in his cries of pain as the evil attacked his magic. Although it was no match for the Old Religion that lived inside him, it still racked his body as much as it could.

"OUT!" Merlin found himself bellowing as his entire body tensed and a strange black smoke was blown from inside him. He collapsed on the floor, exhausted. Unknown to the warlock a shadowed figure stood in the door, watching the scene in front of him unfold. The figure watched for only moments more before turning and striding away, his black cloak billowing behind him.

 **Author's notes: Sorry for the short chapter guys. I only realized how short this was like an hour ago and I don't have any time to make it longer what with homecoming and midterms and getting sick all in the same week. Just to clarify Merlin's power level went past Purple, because in a rainbow color scheme pink will come after purple, it's not a light red. Sorry for the confusion guys. I know I don't really answer comments personally in the Author's notes because a lot of them would make me spoil the entire story. If you are really confused about something in the story message me and I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have that aren't related to what future chapters may have in terms of plot. Other then that every single comment I've received has been so positive and amazing! Thank you all so much!**


	7. Who is Emrys

**Chapter 7**

 **Disclaimer: Harry Potter and Merlin do not belong to me, the only thing I own is the plot.**

Severus Snape rushed down the deserted halls, pitch black robes bellowing out behind him. His normally apathetic features were twisted into worry. Ignoring the click of his dress shoes, he raced across the worn stone hoping the noise wasn't enough to draw attention to himself. He stopped suddenly in front of a pair of inconspicuous looking gargoyles with angry expressions.

"L-Lemon Drop" he panted, breathing heavily. The heavy stone door sealing the headmaster off from the rest of the world slowly slid to the side, grinding across the floor. Within a minute a set of dark stairs appeared from the wall and the potions master rushed up them in a hurry, almost tripping over his normally ominous looking robes.

"Albus...Albus I have news" he huffed as he rushed into the headmaster's study.

"Ah, Severus. I'm sorry but I do have a few guests at the moment, do you think this could wait?" Dumbledore answered with a warning look. Cornelius Fudge and Dolores Umbridge turned to face Severus with identical looks of suspicion.

"I'm sure anything Severus was going to tell you he can tell us too" said Fudge, narrowing his eyes at the potions master. Snape had to consciously stop his lip from curling at the sight of the incompetent Minister of Magic.

"I was just here to inform you that Harry Potter has almost fully recovered and should be able to return to his classes in a day or so" Snape said, his fists clenched behind his back praying that no one saw through his rather flimsy lie.

"I'm glad to see you care so greatly for your students, but maybe consider a new exercise plan?" joked Fudge as he stood up and began to walk from the room with Umbridge at his heels.

"We will discuss this more later Albus." The headmaster nodded and Umbridge gave Snape one last look before leaving the well-lit room with an annoying 'humph' Fudge right at her heels.

"Severus" Albus said, a worried look crossing his wrinkled face, "sit."

Snape sat in the chair opposite the headmaster and rubbed his weary eyes. "I have been watching Professor Emrys closely..." he started.

"Severus I told you that you have nothing to worry about. He is a good man and I trust him" Albus sighed wearily.

"I know" Snape agreed, causing a rare look of surprise to appear on the Headmaster's face. "I don't think me means to harm us...intentionally."

"What do you mean Severus?" Albus asked quietly leaning forward.

"The...darkness...the thing that had invaded Potter's...soul" Snape started.

"Yes, but as I said we cannot remove it. It is feasting on the boy's magic supply and if we were to somehow remove the mist we would also destroy Harry's magic..." supplied Dumbledore, the gears in his mind running at top speed trying to predict what Snape was about to say.

"Emrys entered the room and asked if he could take a look at the boy because of his experience with foreign illnesses..." Snape continued, studding Dumbledore's face.

"Of course yes! How stupid of me, he would have been a wonderful mind for me to pick..." interrupted Dumbledore.

"Sir, Emrys absorbed the...darkness, the mist" Snape said quickly to regain the Headmaster's attention.

"What...?" asked Dumbledore, his voice suddenly quiet.

"He put his hands on either side of the boy's head and they both stared to glow golden; it was very faint but there none the less. I thought that he had simply expelled the mist when Potter breathed out a bit of smoky looking air" Severus explained. The light mood in the room had quickly become dark and dense. "I thought he would explain this all to Poppy but instead he lied. He told her that all she would have to do is cast some simple charms on him to replenish his magical supply."

"That would help replenish a nearly empty magical supply, but that mist would have simply stolen any magic Harry could regain" muttered Dumbledore, his features twisted in rare confusion.

"He left the room and I followed, keeping a very long distance so I didn't see any symptoms he may have had in the halls, but he stumbled into a room and collapsed on the ground, he struggled for a few moments before a black smoke burst out of him" finished Snape, studying the other man's reaction.

"But that mist...if he had somehow caught it from Harry. There would be no way for him to expel it himself. It's impossible..." said Dumbledore, his voice laced with shock.

"How much do you really know about that man?" asked Snape.

"He met all the basic requirements and he seemed to be a better teacher than Professor Umbridge, but other then that not too much" answered Dumbledore. The two men looked at each other once more both wondering what other secrets the new professor may also be hiding.

Harry groaned as he felt himself wake up. His mind felt like a limb when the circulation had been cut off, full of imaginary pins and needles indicating he had been asleep for a long time. Forcing open his sleep-crusted eyes, he was assaulted by the blinding white light illuminating the world around him. Just as his eyes had begun to adjust a pair of arms threw themselves around his neck and a bush of brown hair was shoved into his face.

"Harry!" squeaked a high voice, sounding rather hoarse as if it hadn't been used in a day or so.

"Hey Hermione" croaked Harry, suddenly aware at how dry his throat was.

"I'll get some water" muttered Ron, who had been standing at the foot of Harry's bed with insomnia heavy eyes.

"How are you feeling Harry?" Hermione asked, her eyebrows furrowed with worry.

"Better" answered Harry with a weak smile. Hermione grabbed his hand lightly and sat in one of the chairs next to Harry's bed. Ron handed Harry a tall glass of water and sat next to her.

Giving Hermione's hand a small squeeze Harry let go and forced himself to sit up in his bed. He took the water from Ron and downed the entire glass in a few seconds.

"Better?" asked Ron with a slightly amused smile.

"Better" answered Harry returning the smile.

"What happened to you Harry?" whispered Hermione quietly as she gripped his hand. Harry felt a pang of guilt at his friend furrowed brows and worried expressions. He considered telling them about the strange dream that he had, but immediately decided against it once he took a second look at his friends' pained and exhausted expressions.

"I...I don't really know Mionie..." muttered Harry, refusing to make eye contact with her.

Ron, oblivious as always just shrugged, "guess you just got a really bad cold, eh mate?" Hermione shook her head slightly and studied Harry's tired face.

"Heh...guess so" Harry answered with a fake smile, but he could tell by the bag's under his friend's eyes and the disorder of their appearance that neither of them had left his bed in the unknown time he had been unconscious in the hospital wing. They all knew it had been a lot more than a cold.

The three friend continued to discuss classes and make other small talk until the large double door leading into the hospital wing quietly creaked open. Harry looked past his friends to see the defence professor entering the room. He watched him until the young man looked up and made eye contact with him.

"Ah Harry! I'm glad to see that you're awake!" Professor Emrys said with a wide smile.

"Hullo Professor" Ron greeted cheerily.

"Hello Professor" sighed Hermione, realizing her time to interrogate Harry had ended.

"Hello Mr. Weasley, Miss. Granger. I hate to interrupt the three of you, but would you mind if I spoke with your fallen friend for a moment?" Merlin asked, his cheery smile becoming a bit more forced.

"Of course not Professor, we have homework to get started anyways" replied Hermione with a smile that was equally forced. Taking Ron's hand, she lead him from the room and left Harry alone with the eccentric defence Professor.

Harry watched Merlin take a seat beside his bed and look at him with a worried expression mixed with a bit of curiosity.

"Tell me what happened ."

Harry managed a small smile, "I must have gotten a bad case of the flu that's all professor."

Merlin sighed, "Harry you could have died."

Harry's smile melted away into a neutral expression. "What?" he asked quietly.

"Well seeing as no one else is willing to tell you this I will: something happened to your magic..." Merlin trailed off for a moment when he saw Harry's panicked expression.

"You should be fine now...but I'm sure you know that wizards can't live without out magic and something managed to steal most of yours away. It's a miracle you survived Harry" said Merlin slowly, choosing his words carefully.

Harry studied the professor's face for a moment before deciding that his confession deserved a compensation.

"I had a dream...I was in a dark room, filled with this dark smoke. And I heard this voice...it sounded so far away...I couldn't make out what it was saying. And then the smoke took shape of huge shelves covering every portion of the room from floor to ceiling and these people, at least I think they were people, were wandering around the room. Then the smoke started to fill up my lungs and I heard a voice again but I couldn't make out what it was saying."

Merlin looked at Harry with a truly worried expression, "thank you ."

Harry sighed, "if you don't mind Professor, I think I'm going to get some sleep now. I mean I've done nothing but sleep for the past week, yet I'm exhausted."

Merlin gave Harry a small smile, nodded, and stood from the stool exiting the sterile room. It made no sense to him. How had that smoke managed to get to Harry from a dream? And how had it managed to find its way into him? The professor was so lost in thought that he didn't see the potion master until he had run into him.

"Oh! Professor Snape! I'm sorry I was a bit preoccupied" exclaimed Merlin with a sheepish smile.

"It's not a problem" answered Snape in a monotone voice, looking as if he wanted to get away from the newest professor as quickly as possible.

"Is something wrong Severus? You look like you've seen a ghost, which is entirely possible" Merlin joked.

The potions professor just gave him a strange look and excused himself before continuing down the hall. Merlin stared after him for a moment before continuing on his way.

He figured he should probably drop by the headmaster's office and pick his brain for any theories of what may have happened to Harry, but stopped when he heard hushed voices from inside Dolores Umbridge's office.

Normally Merlin was very against eavesdropping, as he felt it was an invasion of privacy but he still found himself stopping to listen.

"...do not want that man teaching my child" said a cold voice, filled with authority.

"I'm sorry Lucius, but we didn't have much of a choice in the matter. I barely managed to get Dolores on as staff with that loon Dumbledore in charge" replied another voice, sounding a bit frightened.

"I agree with Lucius Minister, he seems just as incompetent as the headmaster but with less restraint" voiced Umbridge. Merlin frowned at this; why was he being discussed among the Minister of Magic, Lucius Malfoy, and Dolores Umbridge?

"I don't care Fudge. I want him gone before he can fill my son's head with any more of his ludicracy! In the last letter I received from Draco he told me that he was beginning to question whether blood status meant anything at all!" Malfoy snarled, and Merlin could imagine the anger on his face. He felt himself smiling a bit, maybe he had really gotten through to young Draco after all.

"Well...I mean...I'm not sure if that's..." stuttered Fudge, sounding extremely uncomfortable. Merlin knew the man had good ideas and okay morals, he was just too much of a coward to do anything.

"If Professor Emrys steps one foot out of line, I will have him dismissed off staff. But until then..." Umbridge stated in her sickly sweet voice.

"Oh I think we may have something already" said Malfoy, "according to reports from my son and some of his friends, he has been displaying contempt for the Slytherin house that has led to unfair treatment of its students."

"I'm afraid not Lucius, if that was the case Severus would have been sacked years ago" piped up Fudge.

Having heard enough Merlin turned away from the door in disgust. He would've hexed all three of them right there if he could. Strolling at a rushed pace he headed towards the gargoyles concealing the headmaster's office.

"Chocolate Frog" he said, surprised by the anger in his voice. Taking a deep breath, he ascended the stairs.

Knocking on the partially open door, he peered into the office. All matter of thingamabobs and doohickies whirled around the space and Albus Dumbledore sat at his desk, across from Minerva McGonagall. The old man looked over at Merlin and gave him a warm smile.

"Ah! Ben, how nice to see you" he greeted warmly. Merlin returned the headmaster's smile, although his was a bit more forced.

"I'd appreciate if I could borrow your mind for a moment Albus" Merlin said, still feeling a bit angry. The headmaster nodded and McGonnigal moved to leave the room. "That's alright Minerva you're deputy headmistress, you should hear this too." She gave him a small nod and took her seat once again.

"I was visiting in the hospital wing to check on his condition and on my way back to my room I overheard a concerning conversation between Dolores Umbridge, The Minister of Magic, and Lucius Malfoy." Dumbledore nodded and motioned for Merlin to continue.

"I am wondering why in the bloody world that they were discussing options to get me sacked" continued Merlin, ignoring the shadowed look that passed over the transfiguration professor's face.

Dumbledore sighed, "I'm sorry Ben. I'm sure you're aware that there are some...unfavorable characters in power in the wizarding world as of late."

Merlin, who had calmed down significantly by now took a deep breath, "Albus, I'm only trying to help the students of this school."

McGonagall studied the young man's face. He rubbed his eyes and his features sagged with a weariness that didn't belong in their youthful glow. For a man so young, he carried the weight of age more than Dumbledore himself.

"Lucius Malfoy has been a tumor to this school ever since he joined the board" she said in a clipped tone. Dumbledore seemed a bit surprised at her words, but she saw a look of amusement twitch over the young professor's face.

"There are many...unsavory things happening in the wizarding world as of late" interjected Dumbledore, "Ben I...must ask what side you're on." He looked up at the young wizard with a serious expression that did not seem to belong on his normally mischievous and jolly features.

Looking Dumbledore dead in the eye Merlin straightened his posture, "Albus I am on whatever side ensures that this world can live safely, be it Wizard, Muggle, or Goblin. I will never support someone who believes that they are better then someone for a reason as trivial as ancestry. I will never support someone that idiotic and misinformed."

Dumbledore felt a chill run down his spine at the danger in Merlin's words. The look in the man's eyes was unsettling to say the least.

In that moment the old man vowed to himself to never let the newest professor go anywhere near any side but the side of the light.

 **Alright guys. So this is the last chapter I have pre written so the next one may not be uploaded by next week; no promises. I'm really enjoying writing with the characters in this story so far and I have some exciting updates ahead so I hope you all will continue to support me in the same amazing ways. I love all of you and I hope everyones continues to enjoy this story.**


	8. The Brightest Witch of her Age

**Chapter 8**

 _A few days earlier_

"Matilda Peterson?" asked Hermione suddenly. She raised her head from its resting place in the palm of her hand and looked straight into Ron's eyes.

"Uh, yeah" answered Ron shifting uncomfortably under his friend's intense gaze.

"You're saying that Professor Emrys has _met_ Matilda Peterson" she asked again and Ron rolled his eyes.

"Yeah 'Mionie that's what he said." The fifth year had been retelling his and Harry's run in with Professor Emrys when she had suddenly been interrogating him about the details of his harrowing tale. Harry glanced at the two over the pile of food and books strewn over the table in front of him before sighing and returning back to his homework.

"You're absolutely positive he said _Matilda Peterson_? asked Hermione again and Ron nodded.

"Seeing as it happened literally twenty minutes ago, it would be hard to forget" Ron sassed, rolling his eyes. Hermione stared at him for a moment before standing up.

"I'm going to go to sleep," she announced with a strange expression on her face. Ron watched her walk to the girl's dormitories and disappear from sight.

 ***** "Absolutely mental she is" he said, shaking his head in confusion and disbelief. Harry grunted in inattentive agreement, not tearing his eyes away from his transfiguration notes.

Hermione raced towards her dorm as soon as she was out of sight. Opening the door and entering the dark room, she felt her way over to her trunk and whispered a quick _Lumos_ before rummaging around inside it.

After a few minutes she sighed in defeat. She must of left her copy of "A History of Potions and their Masters" at home. After all, she couldn't bring every book with her and at the time she hadn't thought she would need it this year.

Taking a calming breath, she stood and changed into her pajamas before climbing into bed. She could have sworn that Draught of Peace was invented in 1924, long before Professor Emrys was born. She must have been wrong.

_

Hermione nudged a sleeping Ron and watched the charms professor wearily. Ron sat up in his seat and sent his friend a glare.

"I won't let you look at my notes if you fall asleep" she threatened quietly. Ron had a flash of panic behind his bright blue eyes before turning back to face Professor Flitwick. Hermione rubbed her tired eyes and glanced down at the sloppy notes spread out in front of her. Her note taking skills were normally immaculate, but as of late had been declining slowly. After Harry had fallen ill she had struggled to even pay the slightest bit of attention in her classes (something she had never had a problem with before) and now she was completely lost in what her professor was lecturing about. She vowed to lock herself in the library for the rest of the day once this class ended.

"...Bewitched sleeping charm should not be taken lightly. If done improperly the caster could accidentally kill the target of the spell. Although the target will not breath while under the spell they will be in a state of suspended animation, meaning they will not age while under the spell. This cannot be used to as we might say 'sleep into the future' because the spell will break when the user runs out of magic or dies" Flitwick droned, making Hermione's eyelids feel a bit heavy.

Hermione jumped a bit when the final bell of the day sounded through the air. She gathered her things and turned to Ron, "I'm going to be in the library if you need me." 

"I'm gonna sleep for the next two days" Ron replied and yawned. Hermione gave him a kind smile and walked out of the charms classroom chatting aimlessly with Susan Bones as the two made their way towards the library.

"Well have fun studying Hermione" said Susan before turning the corner towards the Hufflepuff dormitories. Hermione waved goodbye at her friend before entering her second home and settling at her normal table towards the back. She pulled out her charms book and began to read over it.

Four hours later Hermione closed her Transfiguration textbook, looking rather pleased with herself. She stretched and was about to head down towards dinner when a thought struck her. The library would have "A History of Potions and their Masters" wouldn't it? She walked over to the biography section and began to scan the many books lining the oak shelves. In only minutes the gilded title caught her eye and she carefully pulled it from its home in the shelf.

She quickly flipped to the index and scanned it for inventors of calming and sleeping potions. Hermione felt her heart beating in her throat as she found Matilda Peterson. Her breath caught in her throat as she began to read the short biography.

 _Inventor of the Draught of Peace (still used today) and the original blood-clotting potion (no longer in use), Matilda Peterson was born in 1907 in Wicklow, Ireland. Peterson attended the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from 1917-1924 and was in the Slytherin house. She invented the Draught of Peace when she was only 17 and attending her last year of school. In 1927 she completed her training as a mediwitch and in 1942 invented the first blood coagulation or blood-clotting potion. She died in 1969 at the age of 62 from a potions accident. She was extremely influential in the medical community and received the third order of Merlin when she was only 1949._

Hermione sat completely still for a few moments, the gears in her brain working at top speed. Every other detail of the professor's story had been spot on, but his timing was completely off. There was no way he could have been older than 24 years old meaning he was born in 1971, three years after Matilda Peterson had already died.

She eventually came to the conclusion that the professor must have added some embellishments to his story to appeal more to Ron and Harry. Although the book didn't go into detail about why she had created the potion, his reasoning made sense. Hermione rubbed her tired eyes and went to place the book back on the shelf. She decided that this was something she should just forget about.

Looking back, Hermione wished she had confronted the professor to see what explanation he could have come up with.Instead she never mentioned it again to anyone for another three years, and even then she was only reminiscing with an old friend over a few drinks.

She packed up her books and began to walk down to the great hall for dinner. The sun was setting in the pale pink sky. She stopped for a moment and bathed in the fading light. She closed her eyes and looked at the slight glow that shone through her fluttering eyelids. Hermione clutched her book tighter to her chest and reveled in the few moments of peace she had discovered. A pair of pale blue eyes gazed upon her, hidden a few feet away. Draco Malfoy had taken to watching the muggleborns of Hogwarts much more closely lately. After his father had responded to his letter with anger and illogical reasoning the seeds of doubt that had been planted by Professor Emrys had begun to grow. He fought against these new ideas with every fiber of his being, but could not stop them from invading his mind in the hours before dawn or late at night before he drifted off to sleep.

Draco was not a stupid boy; he had just been fed stupid ideas. As he watched the Gryffindor, he searched desperately for any sign of inferiority. She tilted her head up so each ray of sunlight bounced off her thin features. Although Hermione was an attractive girl, the feelings of superiority stopped him from seeing her as anything more but an annoyance. He balled his pale fists and walked away from the bushy haired girl bathing in the last rays of pink sunlight.

Merlin sat in the great hall, only picking at his dinner. He was so lost in thought that it took him several seconds to realize that Umbridge was calling his name.

"Professor Emrys!" she practically shouted, waving her hand in front of his face.

"Oh! My apologies Dolores, I'm a bit distracted this evening" said Merlin, giving the woman an apologetic nod.

"Well I hope that doesn't carry over into your teaching" she answered, making annoyance flair in his mind, "I would just like to inform you that I shall be coming and observing your Defence classes tomorrow."

Merlin frowned, "all right...will you be there all day?" he asked. 'Or will I only have to suffer through your presence for an hour' he added in his head. The pink woman gave him a sickly sweet smile.

"Oh I'll only be there for one period, so make sure you perform well." Merlin nodded, secretly sighing in relief and went back to picking at his breakfast. He observed the students sitting at their designated tables spread out in front of him. He spotted a few Hufflepuffs sitting at the Ravenclaw table and a few Ravenclaws settled at the Gryffindor table looking like they were working on projects with their partners, but Slytherin and Gryffindor students sat firmly at their own house table. Safety in numbers he assumed. Merlin had always theorized that Gryffindor and Slytherin were the two extreme houses. Every student in either house were people that he had pegged as all or nothing type of folk. While the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws were better at diplomacy and compromise, the other two houses had decided if you didn't believe exactly what they believed then you were wrong.

Maybe that was something they could cover in conflict avoidance this afternoon: compromise. Although he had to admit himself, diplomacy had never been his strong suit and it had taken years for him to master apathy. Although, working in Author's court had definitely helped him learn how to keep his thoughts to himself.

Harry sleepily shoveled potatoes into his mouth. He still wasn't completely recovered from his sickness and had found himself being much more tired than normal the past few days. Madam Pomfrey had told him that it was simply his magical reserves working overtime to make up what had been lost, but that didn't mean he could skip classes.

He barely noticed when Hermione sat down next to him. She looked at him and rolled her eyes before taking his arm lightly.

"Alright, let's get you to bed" she said in a motherly tone before she began to help him stand. Ron took his other arm and the two supported him as they walked from the dining hall.

"You two go eat dinner I can..." he paused to yawn, "...make it back to the common room on my own." Ron rolled his eyes and Hermione shook her head and the three continued to make their way up the Gryffindor tower.

As soon as they stumbled through the portrait, Hermione and Ron dumped their friend on a couch and she ran to go grab a blanket and Ron knelt over to remove his best friend's glasses.

"Get some sleep mate," he said quietly as Hermione returned with a thick wool blanket. Harry's last thought before falling asleep was how much he truly loved his friends.

Harry awoke the next morning with a small cick in his back and feeling more refreshed than he had in a week. Checking the time, he was surprised to find he still had an hour until breakfast would end. He sat up and stretched before sleepily making his way to the bathrooms.

He turned on the hot water and undressed. As soon as the warm liquid hit his skin, any lingering threads of sleep vanished from Harry's consciousness. He sighed and let the warm water run down his lean body, ignoring the slight stinging sensation that the hot water inflicted. The past week had been strange for Harry. The nightmares had not returned after his coma, but he assumed that was caused by his exhaustion. The people who had chastised him for announcing Voldemort's return had generally left him alone, which was extremely welcome in his mind. The strangest part was Malfoy. Most of the Slytherins had continued to give him dirty glares and veiled threats, but his enemy had done nothing. He didn't know if his actions were out of pity or general hatred, but Draco Malfoy had not even looked in Harry's direction in the past seven days.

Harry was yanked from his thoughts when he realized the water had become cold. He shivered and stepped from the shower, drying himself as best he could with a towel and hastily getting dressed. Making a mental note to leave time to change, he bolted down to breakfast feeling suddenly famished.

As he took his seat at the Gryffindor table he was greeted with polite nods and kind hellos from most his fellow students.

"About time mate, I was wondering if you'd ever wake up" teased Ron, earning a small chuckle from Hermione and Harry.

"Gotta get my beauty sleep, this doesn't just happen" joked Harry, gesturing to his disheveled hair and face. Ron laughed openly at this and the three friends wolfed down their food in a comfortable silence.

"So what class do we have first today?" asked Harry.

"Potions I believe" answered Hermione. Harry made a face and Hermione gave him an empathetic look.

"Merlin, why can't they just fire that evil bat already" muttered Ron, earning a half-hearted glare from Hermione.

"Snape wasn't as bad last week" piped up Neville always the optimist.

"Probably 'cause Harry wasn't there" joked Seamus, with a rude undertone. Ron shot his roommate a glare but Harry laughed good-naturedly. Seamus looked annoyed that his words did not have the desired effect and went back to munching on his toast in silence.

After the golden trio had finished their breakfasts, Harry darted back to the common room to change and they made their way down to the dungeons. Although Harry had woken up in an extremely good mood, he felt it dampen with the air with each step he took. The saddest part of the Gryffindor's abysmal potions education was that most of them especially Harry himself, could have excelled in their most hated class. Harry had inherited his mother's knack for remembering exact ingredients and every once in awhile managed to make an educated guess that differed from his potions textbook, but turned out just as well as if he had followed the instructions. Sadly, he had vowed not to try in his least favorite class, if only to anger the teacher.

When the last few students trickled into the dark and cold classroom, Snape turned to face them all with an irritated glare; Harry noted that he looked even more irritated than normal.

"I was considering not allowing _some_ members of this class to move on to the next potion" he looked directly at the Gryffindors, "but incompetence is no reason to hold the rest of the class back." Harry glared at the professor's back as he wrote something on the blackboard.

"I will expect you to all brew the Draught of Peace by the end of class...without instructions" he added, with a small sneer. It widened when a majority of the Gryffindors groaned.

"So I assume none of you have studied for this then. Weasley!" he shouted, making Ron jump "who invented the Draught of Peace!" Ron looked at Snape for a moment before smiling.

"Matilda Peterson" he said confidently. Even Snape looked surprised at this and Ron looked as if he was mentally patting himself on the back.

Snape's features twisted into anger. "I expect perfect potions in the next hour!"

Harry quickly walked over to the storage cupboard and gathered the ingredients he needed. He glanced over and watched Neville fumble and drop his knife just as Snape walked past.

Snape chucked mean heartedly, "I don't know why they allowed you into the wizarding world Longbottom." Harry felt anger rise in his throat and was too preoccupied glaring at the hated professor to notice the jars slightly shaking in front of him.

He made his way back over to his cauldron and lit the flame under it. Carefully, he added the first ingredients and glanced over to make sure Ron wasn't about to blow something up. His best mate was about to drop some unicorn horn shavings into the bubbling mixture, but stopped when he noticed Harry shaking his head violently. Ron jerked his head towards the ground pixie wings and Harry nodded. He glanced back up and noticed Snape watching him intensly. Determined to ignore the horrible man Harry focused on his potion.

Forty-Five minutes later Snape called time. Slytherins sat back with half finished potions and smug expressions. Gryffindors scrambled to make sure their potions were perfect so that their Professor had no reason to mark them down. Snape began to glide down the aisle, smirking whenever he saw something wrong with A Gryffindor's potion. Neville was smiling proudly a perfect maroon liquid bubbling in front of him. Harry felt dread bubble up in the pit of his stomach as Pansy Parkinson discreetly poured some amber liquid in his friend's cauldron. Neville's eyes widened in horror as his once perfect potion began to steam and sputter.

"Another failure I see" muttered Snape as he passed by his cauldron. The professor glanced up at Pansy but did nothing as the Slytherins began to laugh. Harry's vision was tinged red as he noticed his friend was about to cry.

"That's not fair!" he suddenly blurted, balling his hands into fists.

"10 points from Gryffindor for disrespect" muttered Snape, ignoring Harry.

"You saw her slip that into his potion!" continued Harry, ignoring the warning and excited looks he was getting.

"10 more points from Gryffindor" said Snape, looking up to glare at Harry, "looks like those articles in the paper are inflating your ego Potter."

"Have you ever wondered what would happen if you stopped bullying kids and let them learn? Or are you too much of an empty man to ever consider anything but hate to people who have done nothing to you?" asked Harry, looking Snape straight in the eye.

"Silence Potter!" he yelled, making some of the students flinch.

"No!" yelled Harry, "I just want to know what the _bloody_ hell is your problem!"

"Detention for a month potter" snarled Snape. The shelves around Harry began to shake ominously.

"You're such a sad old man!" said Harry, pounding the desk with his fist.

"Harry..." warned Hermione placing a calming hand on Harry's arm, "Professor Snape he's sorry."

"Stay out of this mudblood" snarled Snape, eyes widening as soon as the word left his lips. Many students gasped, including Slytherins.

"DON'T YOU CALL HER THAT" screamed Harry, a surge of anger overtaking him. Every glass jar in the classroom suddenly exploded and wooden shelves splintered loudly. Hermione was blasted back from Harry and caldrons were shoved off the desks. Harry stumbled backwards as students looked back and forth from the two in a mixture of horror and amazement.

"Bloody hell mate" muttered Ron. Harry looked at students who were desperately trying to get their shoes off before the potions that had splashed through them managed to touch their skin. Feeling a horrible mix of guilt and horror, Harry began to back away from a bleeding Hermione.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry," he repeated before racing out the classroom door.

 **My longest chapter yet! I really liked writing the end of this and I'm really excited to see what you all think of it. That you so much for the positivity and kindness!**


	9. Repercussions

**Chapter 9**

 **Quick message:**

 **Yes, I know Snape isn't evil and I knew that there were parts of the last chapter that people didn't agree with and I'm kinda surprised that I didn't receive more hate than I did. Please if you don't agree feel free to tell me but make your criticism constructive instead of condescending. If you believe the author's idea to advance the plot was badly thought out just consider that it may have another purpose behind it involving character development or an ulterior motive that was not explained in the story yet. When you start a comment with "did you know" or "just saying" just remind yourself that, yes, the author most likely knows and please stop patronizing the author. And no I do not hate Snape, I believe that just like Draco he has a lot of potential character development and I am playing into that in a way that best fits the future of this story.**

 _Previously:_

" _Stay out of this mudblood" snarled Snape, eyes widening as soon as the word left his lips. Many students gasped, including Slytherins._

" _DON'T YOU CALL HER THAT" screamed Harry, a surge of anger overtaking him. Every glass jar in the classroom suddenly exploded and wooden shelves splintered loudly. Hermione was blasted back from Harry and caldrons were shoved off the desks. Harry stumbled backwards as students looked back and forth from the two in a mixture of horror and amazement._

" _Bloody hell mate" muttered Ron. Harry looked at students who were desperately trying to get their shoes off before the potions that had splashed through them managed to touch their skin. Feeling a horrible mix of guilt and horror, Harry began to back away from a bleeding Hermione._

" _I'm sorry... I'm sorry," he repeated before racing out the classroom door._

"Sir it was a mistake I..." tried Severus Snape once again.

"I don't want to hear it Severus!" cried Dumbledore rubbing his temples in an effort to thwart his oncoming headache. Snape sat silently, studying his colleague's face.

"Severus..." sighed Dumbledore, no longer looking as angry, "do you know how many complaints from students I have received in the past week about your behavior in class?" Snape shook his head wearily.

"Thirty two" the headmaster said, "I...I understand the stress you're under with the certain, ah, extra projects you've had to take on lately. But I'm afraid that for many of the students and staff this was the last straw" Dumbledore lectured, watching the potions professor's face grow guiltier with every word, "I know you're not a people person and up until now you've been able to get by on intellect alone but that has to change Severus."

"I'm sorry Albus" Snape repeated, "I just...the boy pushed me to the edge and I...he looks so much like his mother." The last part was muttered so quietly that Dumbledore barely heard it.

The old face softened slightly with sympathy, "perhaps my soft spot for you has finally gotten the better of me Severus, I will allow you to continue to teach given that you apologize to Ms. Granger and promise me that habits from your time with Voldemort will not spill over into this life."

Snape nodded and sighed wearily, sinking down into his plush seat, "I understand." He paused for a moment before continuing, "The Potter boy. I just don't know what to do anymore."

"What do you mean Severus?" asked Dumbledore gently probing for more information. He hadn't seen the potions professor this vulnerable since Lily's death.

"At times all I see is James. I can see his arrogance, his hubris, his mischief...but as soon as I see him I see her; her eyes and intelligence and kindness" Snape confided sadly, keeping his black eyes trained on a far corner of the room.

"Severus, Harry is neither James nor Lily. As hard as I know it is for you to see him as his own individual person that he is. The poor boy has been through more than many of us combined and that has made him who he is. Although sometimes he can be a bit brazen and he has inherited his mother's kindness, he also has many traits that neither of his parents had. I do not ask that you like the boy, only that you treat him with the respect he deserves" Dumbledore said quietly looking up at the raven like man.

Snape nodded and rubbed his obsidian eyes wearily, slumping over in his chair. Dumbledore could not see anything but a broken man.

"I know...how difficult this must be for you Severus...how many bad memories have been shoved back in your face lately, but that will never excuse the behavior exhibited in class. I will expect much, much better from you from now on. Another 'slip up' like that will not be tolerated; even by me" Dumbledore repeated, giving Snape a look that sent a shiver down his spine.

Snape nodded, "Thank you for your leniency Albus." He stiffly stood and exited the room.

Dumbledore felt his shoulders slump as soon as he was once again left alone in his office. The old man had a sense of dread that had been growing in his stomach for the past few months. If it wasn't the strange rumors circling around the newest teacher it was the professor he had bet his career on multiple times calling a student a mudblood. Although he had know that Snape had struggled with the memories being brought to the surface, he had never expected the man to act as he had.

Then there was the question regarding Harry's magic. He knew something was wrong as soon as Harry survived the virus that had infected his magical core, but the burst of accidental magic he had displayed in potions class that day was unheard of in someone of his age and power. The results of his Ministerium exam made any kind of magical outburst at all almost completely impossible. He knew the boy had been having nightmares all year, but the questions that had been circulating around Harry made Dumbledore wonder if it really was Harry still in there.

The old man vowed to begin teaching the boy occlumency as soon as possible, if only to confirm his identity more than anything else.

XXX

"Good morning class!" greeted the always enthusiastic Professor Emrys. The fifth year Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs glared at him in reply. It seemed that none of them were morning people.

"Today we will be discussing vampire bats" began Merlin as the students slowly began to pull out their textbooks, "the information you will need for today is on page 295." Although he had planned on discussing the Patronus Charm today, the plump figure of Dolores Umbridge standing in the back of his classroom had stopped him from doing so. Many students had refrained from discussing classes at all in fear of drawing attention from the ministry witch.

"Although vampire bats are non magical creatures there have been instances in which they have been weaponized" he noticed Umbridge's brow furrow slightly at this, "for example during the infamous final of the first Quidditch world cup in 1473, Transylvania released one hundred of the little buggers into the Flanders team. I guess you could say they went a little _batty_ with competitiveness."A few students snickered and the rest rolled their eyes with mock annoyance.

"I'm sorry Professor Emrys, was that information in the textbook?" piped up Umbridge, an evil gleam in her beady eyes.

"No, it is simply a fun fact that I believed some of the students would find interesting" replied Merlin, watching the pink witch wearily.

"I don't think it's necessary to expose these young individuals to that kind of violent information," she said in a high tone while making a mark on her clipboard. Almost every student swiveled in their chairs to look at Umbridge with a look of disbelief written on their faces.

"I would appreciate if you left any criticism of my lessons till the end _Professor_ Umbridge" replied Merlin curtly, "these children do not need you damaging your education more than it has already been destroyed." Many of the students his smiles at his words, but the toady woman seemed to take it as a jab towards past teachers and not her annoying presence. She nodded curtly, her face unreadable.

Merlin taught the remainder of the lesson in peace. Although even he had to admit that the subject today was horribly boring. He had never seen his students look so relieved to leave his classroom when the bell rang.

"Professor Emrys, a word please" said Umbridge, strutting to the front of the classroom to face Merlin, "If you want to keep this job Professor Emrys do not exaggerate the violence in history so much in your lessons. We need not expose such young minds to those kinds of thoughts," said the evil woman seriously. Merlin felt words escape him and simply stood in front of Umbridge, mouth slightly agape. Was she serious?

"I'm sorry Professor I'll try not to make my lessons so horribly violent next time" said Merlin sarcastically. Umbridge's face turned an ugly shade of red and opened her mouth to retort when she was interrupted by the creak of the classroom door opening. Merlin peered past the horrible woman to see Headmaster Dumbledore standing in the wide doorframe with a kind smile on his old face.

"I'm so sorry to interrupt you Deloris, but do you think I could have a word with Ben for a moment?" he asked kindly, but forcefully. She send Merlin one final glare before storming from the classroom, her pink pumps clicking on the stone floor.

"Thank you Headmaster" sighed Merlin, visibly deflating, "I don't think I could have contained my temper for much longer." Dumbledore nodded but gave Merlin a stern look.

"We must treat all staff here with respect Ben, no matter any personal opinions we may have." Merlin made a mental note of the man's use of 'we'.

"May I ask why you've come to visit me Headmaster?" he asked, changing the topic of conversation.

"Albus is fine Ben. Actually, I've come to discuss Mr. Potter" the old man said seriously. Merlin felt his stomach drop, how much did the man know?

"He seems to have had a nearly impossible magical outburst recently, injuring one of his classmates. I've been informed that you were the one to heal him from the mysterious illness that plagued him earlier this year; is this some sort of side effect?" Dumbledore questioned, folding his hands in front of him.

Merlin sighed, "I will admit Albus I'm not any sort of expert on the subject. I've only seen it once before. From what I know, it consists of a magical virus infecting one's magic core and draining them of any magic energy" Merlin said truthfully, "magical outbursts makes sense."

"Yes, but I was also wondering why you lied to Poppy when you cured him of it" said Dumbledore, watching the other man's expression twist into one of fear.

"Yes...I'm sorry Albus but the way to cure the virus is extremely risky and I didn't believe I would get permission to perform what I needed to do before it was too late..." replied Merlin. And I didn't want anyone to try it but me, he added internally.

Dumbledore sighed and nodded, seeming pleased with his answer. "If it is alright with you professor, may I ask you one more question; I seem to be letting my curiosity get the better of me recently."

Merlin nodded wearily, "ask away."

"Are the rumors about you touching the crystal true?" he asked, old eyes twinkling.

Merlin laughed, "of course not Albus. A blinding light? A pink stone?" He laughed again and this time the Headmaster joined in.

"I thought as much, but I couldn't help myself" Dumbledore said happily. The two men talked for a few more minutes before Dumbledore turned to leave.

"Forgive me Ben, may I ask you one more question?"

Merlin laughed, "of course Albus."

"What was your house when you attended Hogwarts?"

Merlin looked at the man with a mischievous twinkle in his eye, "may I ask what your best guess is?"

Dumbledore smiled, "You are a very kind and intelligent man. You're passion when it comes to equality in the wizarding world makes me believe you were a Hufflepuff. But once all aspects of your personality are analyzed it points towards Slytherin, but for some reason that seems unlikely to me..."

Merlin smiled and walked past the Headmaster towards the door, "Forgive me Albus but I don't think I'll confirm anything just yet. I rather enjoy watching everyone try to figure it out".

Albus Dumbledore watched his youngest professor strutt out the open door with a sly smirk on his youthful features. Although he truly had no idea who Ben Emrys really was he knew he would have fun figuring it out.

 **I'm sorry this chapter is a little shorter but I really haven't had much time to write recently. I know I didn't mention Harry much in this chapter but I promise you'll all get answers in the next one.**

 **P.S: I don't answer reveiws in the chapter unless it is something very important. If you wish to discuss part of the story with me or have any small questions feel free to message me and I'll answer anything you need to know (within reason).**


	10. The Order of the Phoenix

**Chapter 10**

 _ **Warning: Strong language**_

 **Disclaimer: Harry Potter and Merlin do not belong to me; neither does the sorting hat song. The only thing I own is the plot.**

 **XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

A ball of blue and yellow fire streaked across the night sky; burning millions of degrees millions of miles away. A young boy suddenly felt very small and very insignificant as he watched the comet travel past the infinite number of sparkling stars that dotted the black canvas. He sighed at ran a thin hand through his tangled black locks. What was the point? If everyone was going to call him psychotic and a liar why should he save them? What if they were right? An image of a bushy haired girl flying into a cabinet suddenly struck his sleep-deprived mind. He buried his face into his bony knees and fought back tears.

Everything was his fault. How was he supposed to stop a dark lord if he couldn't even stop himself from hurting his best friend? What kind of fucking hero was he?

He sobbed quietly in the empty common room. He was a coward. Useless.

The stars continued to shine as they always do and the world continued to turn as it always does. Sometimes he had to wonder: how important was he really? Nothing he did would matter in the long run. He was insignificant and so was everyone and everything around him.

"...Harry?" asked a quiet voice from across the room. He jumped and swiveled his head to face the intruder. Hermione looked at him from the doorway to the girl's dormitories with concern etched into her features. As soon as Harry saw the sympathy she showed he broke down once more. Why didn't she hate him? She had every right to.

The bushy haired witch rushed across the dark room and knelt on the window seat next to her best friend, "did you have another nightmare?" Harry's head whipped up to face her with disbelief written on his face. Hermione placed a gentle hand on his toned arm and looked into his green eyes.

Pain.

That was all she saw, all he felt. She saw glimpses of the broken boy she had met four years ago. Hermione could only see a child who had once again lost his way.

"How?" he suddenly croaked, looking into her hazel eyes with desperation.

"What?"

"How do you do that? How do you just forgive me after all that shit I pulled?" he asked, "I'm a fucking monster."

Hermione shifted her body so she sat across from Harry and crossed her arms across her stomach.

"Bloody hell Harry you're a human. Yeah you made a mistake, but that's okay. It's not like you're the only god damned person in the world that's ever messed up" she said soothingly.

Harry looked up at her, "but… Shit Hermione. I hurt you. I landed you in the fucking hospital wing. I...I..." Harry trailed off, burying his head in his knees once again.

"Yeah, but I'm fine Harry. I'm perfectly fucking fine. I get that there's something strange happening to you right now but no matter what happens you'll always have me and Ron and Sirius and Fred and George and Remus and everyone else. None of us will ever leave you Harry; you're our family" Hermione said firmly. Harry's emerald eyes widened for a moment before he offered his friend a small smile.

Hermione took his hand gently and the two silently watched the infinite universe sparkle before them in all its eternal majesty until sleep claimed them both.

XxXxXxXxXxXx

The next morning Neville wandered down the stairs still half asleep, in an attempt to finish the charms homework he had started the night before. He saw his pile of notes lying on the oak table in front of the dying fire and bent down to pick them up. When he straightened back up he noticed two kids sitting on the window seat, hand in hand as they slept soundly and peacefully.

One had his arms wrapped around his thin body covered in thinner pajamas and the other sat opposite of him and had one hand cushioning her head and the other resting comfortingly on her companion's knee. Neville smiled to himself before slowly walking back up the stairs, feeling strangely less panicked than he had only a minute ago.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Many miles away from Hogwarts, or even the United Kingdom sat a large house atop an even larger hill. Only ten minutes to the east was a small town by the name of Severomorsk. The occupants of the Russian town had always been weary of the building that perched early on temno hill. It had sat abandoned for hundreds of years, but in the past few minutes the superstition around the house had only strengthened as the occupants of the town had seen strange lights flickering in the windows at night and children had reported the occasional scream coming from the upper levels.

Inside the house in question a single fire roared, barely illuminating the cavernous library. Most of the furniture had been covered in tarps, but one armchair in the center of the room sat bare. The occupant of said chair watched the yellow and orange fire with intensity. He raised a chalk white hand so that the tarp haphazardly covering the long mahogany table behind him was whipped off by invisible hands. A long shape stirred in a dark corner and began slithering towards the fire, disturbing the thick layer of dust that coated the worn carpet.

The figure in the chair did not move when a small pop resounded throughout the library, but he did glance toward the enormous snake that had reached his skeleton-like feet.

"Hello Lucius" he finally hissed lacing his chalky fingers together.

"H-Hello Master" the tired man answered, bowing deeply towards the chair.

"You're early," the figure observed, lowering a bony hand to gently stroke the snake on the head.

"Y-yes... I figured it was better than late" Lucius Malfoy answered tentatively.

"You would be correct" hissed the figure, and the tension in the other man's shoulders was visibly defused.

In the next few minutes more people appeared in the abandoned library and began to take their seats at the long table. Soon every chair was filled but the elaborate seat at the head of the table. The figure in the chair slowly stood and glided over to his seat and every pair of eyes in the room watched him ceaselessly.

"Welcome all" said Voldemort, his voice laced with false hospitality, "many of you bring news I trust?"

"Y-yes my Lord" piped up Gibbon, "any accusations of your return have been ignored and not one fool in the ministry will even begin to suspect that any of the rumors may have any grounding."

"Good, good" signed Voldemort, and he listened as twelve more of his minions relayed the information they had been set out to discover. Nothing was amiss and it seemed that Voldemort's plan was more secure now than ever.

"And Severus" began Voldemort and all conversation instantly ceased, "is anything amiss and the fine learning establishment of Hogwarts?" a few snickered at this but were silenced by their master's gaze.

"...Yes my Lord" began the potion's master slowly.

"Please elaborate" said the dark lord, his already thin eyes narrowing into slits.

"The new defense against the dark arts professor, Ben Emrys he is...quite strange" Snape said cautiously.

"He is powerful my Lord" piped in Malfoy, and all eyes turned to him, "my son, Draco has seen it first hand."

"Is that so?" whispered Voldemort.

"Y-yes, during the Ministerium exams, he grabbed one of the Bellum Crystals by accident and it looked like, as Draco described it, a pinkish white sun" relayed Malfoy.

"Impossible" spat Voldemort, "no wizard's body could endure magic of that scale, their core would self destruct."

"I've heard the same thing" said Snape and Malfoy sent him a thankful glance, "he is also fairly intelligent and no one knows much about who he is or his past."

"How old is he?" asked the Dark Lord, looking more and more interested by the second.

"I would estimate early twenties" answered Malfoy and Snape nodded in agreement.

"How much do you know about him?" asked Voldemort, crossing his hands on the table.

"He claims to have attended Hogwarts a few years ago but he is young enough that he would have been my and many of the other teachers' student, although no one remembers him. The headmaster tells me that he has records, but those may have been forged and they are sealed for some reason" answered Snape.

"Which side is he on?" finally wondered Voldemort.

"That... I am not sure. No one is sure of his house but most of the teachers suspect Ravenclaw or Slytherin." Voldemort's mouth twitched slightly upward at this.

"And what do you believe Severus?"

"He...is smart. He knows much someone his age should not know. But he does not fit the average profile of a Ravenclaw as most of his knowledge comes from travel. Although he appears kind and friendly, every move he makes is calculated and he detests anyone questioning his actions, which leads me to believe he was in the Slytherin house if he even attended Hogwarts at all" reasoned Snape, watching his master's facial expressions carefully.

Suddenly the pale man smiled, "you have brought me good news Severus. I would like you to poke around a bit more, learn about this Emrys. Convince him to join us, and if that fails...dispose of him."

"I...Yes my Lord" Snape agreed reluctantly.

"Good. I believe that we've discussed enough for today. Return to your homes and we will convene here again in exactly one fortnight" dismissed and stood from his seat at the head of the table.

It seemed that all his schemes were functioning as planned although this Ben Emrys could be a problem if he was as powerful as Severus believed. But, if he truly were a Slytherin he would have no issue fighting for Voldemort himself.

The pale man gave a sinister smile to himself before turning to his pet snake, "come Nagini, we have much to do."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Snape rushed to the headmaster's office as soon as he was once again in the castle of Hogwarts. The halls were empty this time of night so he didn't have to worry about anyone seeing his frantic actions. As soon as he reached the two gargoyles guarding the ancient room he panted, "chocolate frog" and was immediately allowed entrance.

He rushed up the stairs in a panic and did not see the slight glimpse of a sneaker that slipped in after him.

"Headmaster" he panted and Albus Dumbledore looked up from the mountain of paperwork that surrounded him.

"Severus?" he asked, clearly surprised, "what's wrong?"

"Albus the dark Lord he...knows. About Ben Emrys, about his strength...Lucius told him everything" panted out Snape. Dumbledore's silver eyes widened slightly and he rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"Thank you for informing me of this..." sighed Dumbledore wearily before standing up, "it seems I have some matters to discuss with our newest teacher. Snape nodded and followed the headmaster from the office.

As Dumbledore passed through the door leading to the staircase, his silver irises darted off to the side for a moment before continuing on his way.

Many minutes later, the figure finally revealed itself and Harry Potter stood at the entrance to the headmaster's office with a mixture of worry and confusion written on his features. He thought for sure he was going to be found out when the Headmaster looked straight at him, but no.

The young boy rubbed his aching temples and tried to sort through all the information that had been unknowingly thrown his way. Snape had a meeting with Voldemort? Voldemort wanted Professor Emrys? Who was Professor Emrys really and why did Voldemort want him? Pulling an extendible ear from his pocket he rushed out of the hall and back into the main castle. He needed more answers and Harry Potter intended to get them.

He rushed along the corredor, barely covered by his invisibility cloak until he reached Professor Emrys' quarters. Carefully, he snaked the ear portion of the invention under the professor's door and stuck the tube into his ear.

"...Don't know what you mean Albus. I haven't done anything wrong" said Professor Emrys, sounding extremely confused.

"I don't care what your beliefs are Ben, but right now I need to know who you really are. We both know that there's plenty you aren't telling me but let's start with your name" answered Professor Dumbledore, sounding as angry as Harry had ever heard him.

"I have more than one given name but Emrys is the only one that matters," answered Professor Emrys, sounding frustrated.

"If you attended this school, and your powers are as brilliant as I believe, then why doesn't any staff member at this school remember who you are?"

"We discussed this at my interview Albus. I only attended Hogwarts until my third year and I was a quiet child. No one would remember me," countered Emrys.

'That explains a lot', thought Harry. Suddenly, static overtook the ear and the raven-haired boy was forced to yank the cord from his ear. He readjusted the attachment and replaced it.

"...One more" Dumbledore was saying.

"Fine, ask me anything," replied Emrys, sounding a bit angry now.

"Which side are you really on." Harry leaned in towards the door; focused on nothing but the actions inside the room.

"Albus. I am a peaceful man. I love knowledge and teaching. Yes, I am a Slytherin but only my father was magical. That makes me a half-blood. From my knowledge Voldemort does not accept half-bloods...at least not knowingly" answered Emrys, sounding as calm as he had all night, "I am and always will be on the side of justice, no matter who is being prosecuted be it muggles or magic folk. So if you wish for me to join the side of the light I will accept."

Dumbledore was silent for a moment before sighing quietly, "and Ben Emrys, we will accept you. Welcome to the Order of the Phoenix."

 **Lol little throwback to Uther's magic prosecution at the end there. I know many of you may think it's a little weird that Dumbledore just accepted him like that, but at this point in time he's growing rather desperate and he trusts Merlin for a reason he doesn't understand...yet. I'm sorry that it's taken me so long to upload this but I just took my last final today so I should be able to get the next chapter out before New Years. Oh yeah and my birthday's tomorrow so I'M REALLY F***ING PUMPED FOR THAT. Thank you all for the support and I hope everyone has safe and happy holidays. 3**


	11. The Kids Aren't Alright

**Chapter 11**

 **Disclaimer: Harry Potter and Merlin do not belong to me. The only thing I own is the plot.**

Harry awoke to a loud and crowded room. It took him a moment to once again gain his bearings and realize he was sitting in the great hall, his left elbow in his eggs. Ron observed his friend with an unusually pensive expression and wrung his hands slowly under the table.

"Harry, that's the third time this week" scolded Hermione, although her expression was more worried than annoyed.

"Sorry Mione...I uh, haven't been sleeping well lately" Harry explained, keeping his eyes trained on the squashed eggs.

Hermione looked closely at the dark circles under her best friend's eyes. It looked as if he had been in a rather violent fight with Malfoy and lost. She glanced over at Ron and saw he was also giving off an unusually worried vibe. Harry seemed rather uncomfortable with all the scrutinizing looks he was receiving and began to fidget in his seat. The poor boy looked as if he was about to drop on the spot.

"Harry, please tell us what the nightmares are about, maybe we can help" tried Hermione, reaching across the table and placing a comforting hand on Harry's arm.

"Mate, we all hear you yelling at night" added Ron, "no one's said anything cause we wanted to see if you could deal with this on your own, but something's really wrong isn't it?"

"I'm fine," said Harry, giving his friends an angry glare.

"Fine" sighed Hermione, getting up from the table and exiting the Great Hall. If Harry weren't going to get help, she would just have to do it for him. Most of the teachers had already finished breakfast and were preparing for the day.

Hermione strode purposefully to the transfiguration classroom and knocked smartly on the ancient wooden door.

"Come in" called the surprised voice of Minerva McGonagall. Hermione walked over to her head of house and took a deep breath.

"I think...something's wrong with Harry" she started.

McGonagall raised a thin eyebrow and waited for her student to continue. "He's been having horrid nightmares as of late...so much so that I don't believe he's slept for more than a couple hours in a few weeks. I think that something's wrong, but he refuses to get any sort of help so...I came to you" she finished awkwardly, wringing her hands.

"Miss. Granger, there isn't much I can do unless Mr. Potter comes to me directly...but I will see how I can help," sighed the Transfiguration professor, "I suggest you get to your first class before you're late."

The bushy haired witch nodded and left the room quickly while Minerva rubbed her temples wearily. She would have to observe Harry Potter in her class today, which was really the most she could do at the moment.

She plastered on a stern expression as she faced the seventh year Gryffindors; teaching the Weasley twins was both a blessing and a curse.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

It was only lunch and Harry found himself unable to keep his eyes open for more than a few moments before they slipped close again. He skipped lunch and took a quick nap, but that only seemed to add to his fatigue. He covered his eyes as best as possible and tried to avoid the glare of the potions professor. They had only been in class for fifteen minutes, but it had been the longest fifteen minutes of his entire life.

'Only one more class after this' he told himself repeatedly, but it didn't do much to raise his hopes. Snape droned on and on about the differences of the antidote to common poisons and the antidote to uncommon poisons. How could one man's voice be so annoying?

He sat up quickly as he felt Ron shove his elbow into his ribs. He looked over at the redhead with annoyance, Ron only gestured towards the front of the classroom.

"Asleep Mr. Potter?" asked Snape, striding over to his table.

"Sorry Professor" muttered Harry, who was much too tired to get into an argument with Snape at the moment.

A flash of what almost looked like sympathy crossed the professor's face as he looked into Harry's eyes, but Harry chalked it up to sleep-deprived delirium.

"See me after class Mr. Potter" he snarled, and continued on with his lecture. Harry and Ron exchanged surprised looks before attempting to take notes.

The next seventy minutes of class passed rather quickly as Harry found himself dreading having to be alone with the potions professor after his outburst almost a week ago. He was a bit startled as everyone around him stood up and started to exit.

"Just yell if you need us mate," whispered Ron as he and Hermione left.

Harry got up slowly and straightened his shoulders as he faced his least favorite professor.

"What, Mr. Potter, gave you the idea that it was okay to sleep though my class?" asked Snape, glaring at Harry.

"I'm sorry sir, I've just been tired..." said Harry lamely, shoving his hands as deep in his pockets as they would go.

"Don't let it happen again" the bat-like man snarled, "now get out of my classroom."

Harry gave Snape an incredulous look before turning and leaving the cold room. Normally he would question the man's extremely odd attitude, but at the moment his brain was much too clouded to function. He attempted a weak smile as he saw the other parts of the 'Golden Trio' leaning on a windowsill just outside the entrance to the dungeon stairs.

"So?" asked Ron, "how many weeks?"

"None" said Harry, looking confused as the words left his mouth.

"Not one detention?" asked Hermione, looking a bit awe struck.

Harry shook his head and shrugged, "he didn't even yell at me."

"Bloody hell that's the strangest thing I think I've heard all month" muttered Ron.

"Language Ronald" said Hermione weakly.

Ron turned to retaliate but stopped when Harry stumbled and almost fell to the floor. He rushed forward to steady his friend and Hermione was not far behind. For once Ron was silent as he looked at Harry with unconcealed concern and draped his best friend's arm over his shoulders.

"Alright mate, we're taking you to bed" he grunted, and felt his uneasiness grow as Harry did not even attempt to protest.

He looked up at Hermione, whose eyes were also filled with fear and doubt. "Go to defence and tell Emrys what happened, I'm sure he'll understand. I'll get your notes after class." The bushy-haired girl nodded with vague surprise, not used to Ron acting so serious.

Ron began to half-drag his friend up the Gryffindor tower and managed to avoid running into anyone until he was right outside of the entrance to their common room. The large portrait swung open as Fred and George sauntered out laughing. Harry looked up at the twins in a light trance while Ron gave them a look that would make even his mother proud.

"Oi brother-o-mine, looks like ickle Ronniekins and ickle Harriekins are skipping class," joked Fred.

"I believe we may just have to report them, bother-o-mine. It is our duty as seventh years to help keep the younger students in place!" answered George with a stupidly serious look.

"I really can't deal with this right now" muttered Ron, shooting another concerned look over at Harry.

"Ronnieki..." George trailed off when he finally noticed the black-haired boy's current condition. He turned to his twin with a worried glance and Fred took a closer look at Harry.

"Oh come on, we've pulled the exhaustion card a million times to get out of class" said Fred, rolling his eyes.

"Shut it you two! I need to get Harry inside now!" growled Ron loudly, pushing past the twins.

"I don't think it's an act brother-o-mine," said George as the two exchanged equally worried looks and rushed back into the common room after their youngest brother. Although they may have not been Harry's closest friends, between his constant visits to the Burrow over the past five years and their extensive hours playing quidditch together they both thought of him as their fifth brother.

Ron, who was too tired to pull Harry up the many stairs to their dorm room, laid him down on the largest couch next to the fire before removing his glasses and draping a thick blanket over his friend's now deeply sleeping form. The last thing he wanted was for Harry to catch a cold along with his nightmares.

"What's going on?" asked Fred, giving Harry's still form a concerned look.

"Harry's been having nightmares for a few weeks now...but I didn't know how bad they were until he collapsed about ten minutes ago" Ron relayed, taking a seat on a plush armchair next to Harry's couch, "I think he's been putting silencing charms around his bed so none of us knew how bad they were getting."

George plopped down cross-legged on the floor across from Ron, "do you know what he's dreaming about?"

Ron shook his head, "not really. When it comes to that kind of stuff, Harry's a really private bloke."

Fred took a seat in the remaining armchair and the three Weasley boys watched the blankets covering Harry's body slowly rise and fall intently, as if they were afraid they would cease to move.

George realized he hadn't seen his brother this worried about something since Charlie was hospitalized after receiving a particularly nasty burn from one of the dragons he was working with. Although they hadn't known it at the time, the burn had damaged their second oldest brother's lungs and he had almost died.

The youngest Weasley brother's brow was furrowed as he stared intently into his best mate's face. He jumped a bit when Fred finally spoke up. "Are you sure we shouldn't take him to Madam Pomfrey?" he asked quietly.

Ron shook his head, "I'm going to wait until Hermione gets back from Defence and we'll talk it over then. She's the smart one after all." The twins tried to crack a smile, but it was as half-hearted as their brother's joke.

Ever so slowly Harry's condition seemed to improve, his pale skin seemed to regain a bit more colour and his breathing evened out a bit more. George didn't think he had seen Harry look this peaceful, even asleep, since Cedric died.

All three of the brothers jumped when the entrance to the Gryffindor common room flew open with a muffled bang. Hermione rushed over to Harry, her breathing a bit more labored than normal.

George motioned for his twin to follow him and they both started up the stairs to the boy's dormitories to give Ron and Hermione a bit more privacy. The two were strangely silent as they climbed the spiraling stone stairs, George because he was lost in thought and Fred because he wasn't sure what to say.

George paused as he grabbed the cold doorknob leading to the 7th year boy's room, "I reacon Harry hasn't gotten a good night sleep since Cedric died."

Fred looked him a bit strangely before nodding in agreement, "I think we might be able to brew some dreamless sleep potion and see if that works."

"We may want to make it a bit stronger than normal" sighed George.

"I was thinking the same thing," replied Fred with a good natured smile. Although the atmosphere was still a bit gloomy around the twins, they entered their room and got started on their little present for Harry.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Hermione had rushed into defense and muttered a weak apology to Professor Emrys as she tried to explain her unusual tardiness. Her professor had simply waved her off before she could fully explain and told her to take a seat.

For once Hermione found herself struggling to focus on the lesson at hand. Some students stared at her curiously as the normally studious girl fidgeted in her seat and glanced at the clock repeatedly. Even Professor Emrys began to shoot her confused glances every few minutes.

"Alright class, I need everyone to take their wands out and turn to page 157 in their textbooks," he instructed as he finished his initial instructions. Everyone turned suddenly as the door to the classroom was thrown open and Dolores Umbridge strode in with the Minister of Magic at her side and sent a glare in Merlin's direction.

"Hello Minister" greeted Merlin politely, sounding a bit confused, "may I help the two of you?"

"Yes Professor Emrys. Would you mind telling me what you are working on at the moment?" she asked, a suspiciously triumphant smile adorned her toad-like face.

"At the moment we are discussing the reductor curse" he answered. He looked around the room at the students present and saw that many of them were shooting glares at the horrid woman. There had been rumors of her evil detentions, and it seemed some of his students had experienced it first hand.

"I told you Minister" Umbridge said suddenly, turning to Fudge, "absolutely treturous." Merlin felt his stomach drop as the Minister of Magic nodded in agreement. He had never personally met the man, but always thought he seemed too much of a coward to belong in the noble house of Slytherin. Although these days that wasn't saying much.

"I never doubted you for a moment Dolores" he replied curtly, "it seems Dumbledore has been preparing an army behind my back!" Some of the students snickered at this and Merlin himself couldn't help but chuckle.

"Is there a problem Professor Emrys?" asked Fudge, looking a bit affronted.

"I'm sorry Minister, but Dumbledore hasn't changed the curriculum. It's been this way for years" said Merlin, finding himself feeling rather amused.

"I do not take well to treachery!" Fudge announced after a moment, looking actually angry that Merlin had questioned his logic.

"I have no choice but to leave any and all lesson plans to Professor Umbridge. She will be meeting with all of the Hogwarts staff shortly and hopefully putting an end to all the violence being taught in this school! Until then I have no choice to ban all wand use in this classroom. All students will check their wands at the door and if I find out my orders have been disobeyed the consequences will be grave."

"How are we supposed to learn to defend ourselves without our wands?" suddenly piped up Hermione, looking a bit angry.

"Dear girl" chuckled Fudge, "what would you need to defend yourselves from? The world is perfectly safe." Merlin couldn't help but notice Fudge's blasé attitude seemed a bit forced.

"Why, Voldemort of course" retorted the bushy-haired girl, surprising even Merlin. It wasn't like Hermione to disrespect authority.

Fudge's face reddened, "I will not be spoken to in this fashion! It is obvious that, that crackpot Dumbledore is filling these children's heads with utter nonsense" he turned to Umbridge, "Dolores, I'm sure I can trust you to take care of the seriously falling standards at Hogwarts."

With that the minister walked triumphantly from the classroom, Umbridge turned to follow him but stopped and faced Hermione.

"I believe that shall be detention every night for the next month Ms. Granger for speaking out of turn in front of the _Minister_ of all people" she said, a small, prim smile plastered on her face.

"Professor Umbridge, as you have not officially been announced High Inquisitor as of yet, you have no right to issue detentions like that in my classroom. The students can ask any questions they very well please, and Ms. Granger did not speak disrespectfully. Now if you would kindly get out of my classroom" Merlin said darkly, drawing surprised looks from most of his students. They had never heard a teacher address another teacher in that fashion before.

Umbridge looked a bit scandalized before an expression of distaste took over her face, "I'd advise you to watch your tongue young man. I am not as forgiving as Dumbledore." With that she strode from the room, the large doors booming shut behind her.

"I'm sorry for that...interruption class. It seems the Minister has wasted most of our class time. Now if any of you have any questions about the current situation feel free to ask," Merlin said. Hermione was surprised at his aggressive choice of wording. For once, her hand was one of the only ones not to go up. She sat and wondered what kind of motivations Fudge could have for stunting their defense education.

Even if it were to prevent them from rising up against him, education like this would surely backfire in his face some time in the near future. At this point no one in the class could ever even dream of becoming Aurors, and if the ministry was lacking almost 7 generations of completely competent wizards, it would become a serious threat one way or another.

The next ten minutes of class passed rather quickly and Hermione rushed to her feet as soon as the bell rang.

"Excuse me? Ms. Granger may I have a quick word" called Professor Emrys as she was leaving. Hermione gave her professor a curious look before strutting over to face him.

"I'm sorry for my outburst Professor" she began, but Merlin motioned for her to stop.

"It's no problem Ms. Granger. Honestly...I feel the same way as you do. Although if you do continue to speak to Professor Umbridge like that, you may find yourself in some trouble that I can't help you with."

"Yes Professor, I just find it extremely frustrating how the ministry is depriving us of our education in a time when we need it most" she said, taking a deep breath.

"I find that I agree Ms. Granger, although as a teacher there isn't much I can do, but sometimes we have to take things into our own hands" Merlin said, waiting for Hermione to get the hint.

She gave him in odd look before a large smile burst onto her face, "thank you Professor Emrys."

Merlin pretended to look confused, "I'm sure I don't know what you mean."

This only widened the girl's smile as she rushed from the room. Merlin allowed himself a small internal victory dance; if all went well the school of Hogwarts may receive a semi competent defense education after all.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

 **So this chapter seems a bit sub par to me, but it was just kind of an establishing chapter to set up a lot of the future story. Sorry if it's not as interesting as some of my past chapters. I also really wanted to add a bit more of the Weasley twins in this so here we are. I'm also sorry this took me so long to upload; who new break would be so busy lol. I was wondering, just by preference, if I did bring Morgana into this story would you guys rather she be good or evil? I'm still not sure if I want her in it yet, but let me know what you guys would want. Thanks so much for the love guys!**


	12. I Must Tell Lies

**Chapter 12**

 _ **(Just as a side note, if i have a warning at the beginning of a chapter that says strong language it means I have added swearing into the chapter. I honestly don't know what you expected.)**_

Harry clutched the back of his hand in pain. The angry words flared up against his pale skin as blood slowly oozed out of the thin scratches. He sighed, but found he couldn't complain about his current situation. He would rather have to suffer though a few hours detention with Umbridge than deal with the nightmares. He found he was able to sleep a bit better after the incident a few days ago, although he suspected that may have not been his own doing.

He had seen George slip something into his drink at dinner tonight and Ron had told him they had been there to witness his exhausted coma. This lead him to believe that the twins had been slipping him some sort of sleeping potion, although he hadn't felt tired after eating any of the other nights. He was too tired to care and drank from the cup. If whatever the twins were giving him was helping him sleep so be it.

The corridors of Hogwarts were cast in the flickering shadows of candlelight. Silver moonbeams streamed through the open windows, along with a chill to remind Harry winter was on its way. For a moment he forgot about his worries. The image of Cedric's body that followed him around constantly was pushed from his mind. His anxiety towards Sirius faded as he watched the silver moonlight dance with the golden light from the candles. As soon as it appeared, his tranquility faded and Harry's shoulders once again slumped with the weight of the world.

He wiped his bloody hand on his trousers and continued down the hall until he reached Gryffindor tower. He knew it would be difficult to get all of his homework done and get enough sleep, but Harry was used to surviving on a few hours of sleep by now.

He saw Ron and Hermione talking as he entered the common room. He felt a bit confused for a moment as to why they were still awake before realizing that they were waiting for him. A warm glow spread through Harry as he concealed a smile. He didn't know what he had done to deserve such caring friends, but he was glad he had done it.

"Harry!" exclaimed Ron as he plopped down on the couch next to them.

"How was detention?" asked Hermione, yawning.

Harry shrugged before stretching out as much as he could next to Ron, "you get used to it after a few days.

"Alright" sighed Hermione, before grabbing a stack of parchment off the table in front of them, "I revised your potions essay about Moonstones. Considering the detentions and lack of sleep you've been getting it was actually well written."

"Thanks Mionie" said Harry with a smile as he reached for the essay.

Rather suddenly Hermione put the essay down in her lap and grabbed Harry's hand, "Harry! What is this?"

With a slight wince Harry realized he had reached for the essay with his injured hand, "uh, detention?"

His two best friends looked him in absolute horror as Hermione read out the words engraved in his flesh, _"I must not tell lies"._

"That woman's sick she is!" yelled Ron, as another small drop of blood rolled off the _s._

"It's not as bad as it looks" tried Harry, wrenching has hand out of Hermione's grasp.

"I thought you said she was giving you lines" whispered Hermione, shock still evident on her face.

Harry hesitated before explaining what had actually been happening in his meetings with Umbridge. By the time he had finished, Hermione had tears in her eyes and Ron looked a bit sick.

"Harry! You-you have to tell someone!" whispered Hermione, hoarsely.

"That old hag" Ron muttered angrily.

"No" said Harry immediately, "I can't let her think she's got to me."

"Harry!" scolded Hermione, "this isn't about willpower! She's torturing you!"

"You can't let her get away with this!" added Ron.

"I can handle this!" replied Harry rather loudly.

"You've got to tell Dumbledore mate," said Ron.

"He's got enough on his mind at the moment" replied Harry stoically; "I don't need to bother him with this." He then stood and left his two friends as he climbed the stairs to his dormitory.

"Why won't he ever tell anyone about these things?" asked Hermione sadly.

"Do you think it's because of the Dursleys?" added Ron.

"What do you mean?"

Ron shifted uncomfortably, "well those bastards probably never actually listened to Harry about anything when he was little and uh...I mean Harry always thinks he has to do everything on his own, and that everything that goes wrong is his fault, and that he bothers people with his problems..."

"I...I believe you're right Ron" said Hermione quietly.

"I'm sor...wait what?"

"There have been a lot of more recent muggle studies done to learn how a child's environment can shape who they are. Children who grow up in an abusive environment like Harry tend to keep to themselves and blame themselves for everything that goes wrong. Mostly because that's all they've ever been told" although Hermione sounded as if she was quoting a book, there were tears shining in her brown eyes.

"Does that mean his Aunt and Uncle and really abusive?" asked Ron in disbelief.

"I mean I've always suspected they were more than just mean" sighed Hermione, "but there's not much we can do in the muggle world or wizarding world unless they actually hurt Harry." 

"That's stupid," muttered Ron.

"I guess we could keep him at the burrow as much as we can?" suggested Hermione, "from what Harry's said about them, they don't want him around anyways."

Ron nodded, "I'll talk to mum."

"I just wish I could have put this together before this" said Hermione looking a bit angry.

"Mionie, we've talked about this before. Neither of us really understood the effect this had on Harry before just now" comforted Ron.

"Alright" she sighed, rubbing her eyes wearily, "let's just get some sleep for now. We can talk about this more in the morning."

With that the two Gryffindors gathered up their books and went their separate ways, although neither of them could shake the feeling growing from their new revolution.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Harry woke up covered in icy sweat. His subconscious had decided to to play a highlights reel of all his fears, although many of the horrible memories had lost their edge at this point.

He looked over to check the clock and saw it was six in the morning. Almost five and a half hours of sleep was much better than the rest of his track record this year and he marked it as a successful night's sleep in his mind.

Rubbing his neck, Harry stood and grabbed his towel and shampoo. One of the good things about always waking up before everyone else was that there was always warm water in the showers.

As his towel brushed against the back of his injured hand he looked down. It had finally stopped bleeding although those horrible words were still branded on his skin.

' _I must not tell lies'._ It wasn't the first time someone had tried to ingrain that saying into him. When he was small his aunt and uncle would yell it at him every time Dudley did something wrong and Harry attempted to defend himself when he was inevitably blamed. Or when he had come to school with a black eye from either his uncle or cousin and attempted to tell a teacher what happened. They always called the Dursley's a 'respectable family' and 'not the most pleasant people, but that's ridiculous'. Eventually he gave up.

As soon as he reached the showers, Harry turned the water on as hot as it would go and stepped in. Under the hail of the steaming hot stream, his tense muscles relaxed and he took a deep breath. Harry closed his eyes and simply let the water wash away all his worries. The slight headache he had woken up with faded and he finally felt like a normal student again.

Without even realizing, Harry stayed in the shower for half an hour. When he heard some of the other students begin to enter the bathroom and Harry quickly shut off his water. He toweled off and changed into some fresh clothes before heading down to breakfast.

He spotted Hermione's bushy head of hair as soon as he entered the great hall, although surprisingly Ron was not in his usual spot across from her. Instead two identical heads of red hair sat across the table from her. Although Harry could not see Hermione's face, the twins both looked extremely excited.

"What's going on over here?" he asked as he approached the table, standing behind Hermione.

"We were just discussing some business when Hermione here gave us an idea" answered Fred.

Taking a seat next to one of his best friends, Harry shot her a questioning look and was surprised to see a mischievous look on her face.

"Well, uh Fred and George were talking about a way to prank Umbridge, as they can't prank the Ministry as a whole they decided she was a good surrogate" Hermione said sheepishly.

"You're helping them with a prank?" exclaimed Harry with a smile.

"Indeed" answered George.

"Do I get to know about this prank?" asked Harry, drawn in by the twin's troublemaking auras.

"Seeing as you were the inspiration I think we could stand to tell you" said Fred.

Harry looked to Hermione. "I...after I saw what that vile woman was doing to you in detention I suggested that Fred and George steal her...blood quills...and send them as a nice gift to Dumbledore" she said.

Harry actually laughed, "as much as I would love to see that, it's nearly impossible to get into her office. She's got all these wards up..."

Fred shrugged, "We've done harder..."

"Than sneaking into a troll's office" finished George.

Harry loaded his plate with food as Hermione suddenly stood up, "what are you doing?"

She had a pondering look on her face, "I need to check something."

The three boys watched her leave as she muttered something about wards being illegal inside hogwarts with confused looks on their still sleepy faces.

Hermione's original plan was to head to the library but she was sidetracked when she noticed Luna Lovegood standing in the center of the hallway, staring into nothing.

"Luna?" Hermione called out.

"Oh? Hello Hermione" said Luna with a kind smile.

"What are you doing?"

"I was thinking about a past conversation I've heard" the strange girl answered. Seeing Hermione's confused look she continued. "You see, a couple weeks ago I was wondering around near the owlery as I had misplaced one of my shoes. When I was walking down the stairs I heard Professor Emrys discussing something with the Grey Lady."

"Who's the Grey Lady?" interrupted Hermione.

"The ghost of Rowena Ravenclaw's daughter of course" answered Luna as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "She's told me she isn't very fond of the living but her and the Professor were talking as if they had known each other for centuries. He mentioned an 'old religion' and they were talking about Voldemort."

Hermione gave the blonde-haired girl a confused look. She was sure she had heard of the old religion in one of her books before, but could not place the name at the moment. Recently it wasn't too uncommon for people to talk about Voldemort, but ghosts normally didn't take much of an interest in human affairs. Luna examined Hermione's thoughtful face before continuing.

"Professor Emrys said that a man named Tom had damaged the old religion and that it was hurting him. That's what confused me the most" continued Luna. She looked up at the older girl's face to study her features. Although Luna was strange, she was not stupid. She knew that by relaying some of the more alien terms she had heard to Hermione, she might get the answers she wanted.

"Tom...?" muttered Hermione before a look of understanding dawned on her face. Luna smiled as the fifth year rushed off in the direction of the library. She would have to find her later and ask again. She whipped around and began her merry way skipping down the hall as her long blonde hair swayed behind her.

Hermione's brain was working at top speed. Harry had told her before that Voldemort's original name was Tom Riddle. She was sure she had read something about the old religion in a book about magical history before, but she could not for the life of her remember what it was.

Luckily, Hermione had her first period free and spent the entirety of it looking through the many books in the library. She was sure if she could find out what the old religion was she could make sense of what Luna had told her. She already had a theory about their Defense teacher and this discovery could prove it to be true.

Harry wandered into the library after she had been at it for around half an hour. He was carrying a cup of steaming tea and placed it next to her pile of books. He watched her with a look of endearment before clearing his throat.

"I ran into Luna and she said she thought you'd be in here for a while" he said with a smile. Hermione felt a warm pang of affection towards her friend as he left the library. She took a sip of the camomile tea and returned to her books.

She continued to check the time constantly before nine thirty came to pass. Giving it up as a bad job, she put back the enormous pile of books and headed out to her first class of the day.

Ron and Harry both noticed she was distracted thought the day but decided to keep quiet. Although she still took her normal amount of notes, her mind was anywhere but the lesson at hand. For some reason she felt that the old religion was something that could answer a lot of questions for her; if she could remember what it was.

At the end of the day Hermione packed up and headed back to the library. She alternated between research and homework as she slowly made her way through a new pile of books. Each one was as unhelpful as the next and all contained facts that contradicted with the information from the other books. By the end of the night, she was beginning to grow rather frustrated. Why did wizards make it so difficult to find information?

Suddenly an extremely worn book caught her eye. She vaguely remembered reading it at the end of her fourth year, right before the third task and before Cedric died. Pulling it from the shelf carefully she examined the spine. 'A history of Magic' was pressed into the leather and many cracks spanned both covers. Ever so carefully she opened the dusty book and began to read. It was around ten o'clock in the evening before she truly found what she was searching for.

" _The old religion is considered mythical by most in the magical community. It was said that many centuries ago magic was so ingrained in the earth that everything born of its fruits was a creature of the old religion. During this time magic was much darker, but could be learned by all humans. Only one human in known history was known to be a creature of the old religion: the great sorcerer Merlin. Although most of the information about the old religion is either mythical or incorrect, some theorists have used the little information we do know to create items such as the philosopher's stone and other extremely powerful magical objects"_ Hermione read quietly.

She remembered their research on the philosopher's stone in first year. It said that the Flamel's stone was the only known one, but that didn't mean more didn't exist.

"I suspected that Professor Emrys was older than he actually looked but this..." she muttered to herself.

Quickly, she grabbed the book and shoved it into her tote before leaving the library and walking purposefully down the deserted halls. Thankfully, her destination was close to the library so she did not have to travel far.

As soon as she reached the gargoyles guarding the headmaster's office she began to name types of sweets.

"Chocolate frog, Bertie Bott's every flavored beans, Fizzy Wizzy, Acid Pop" she listed at top speed.

Hermione looked at the door thoughtfully for a moment before trying one more, "cauldron cake?" Ever so slowly the statues outside the entrance began to grind to the side leaving a small opening for her to squeeze through.

"Professor Dumbledore?" she called tentatively as she walked up the short flight of stairs leading into the office.

"Who's there?" came the warm reply as Hermione pushed open the heavy oak door separating the stairs from the headmaster. As the door creaked open she was bathed in a wash of warm yellow light. She never quite get used to all the bobbles and gadgets that whirred around the room.

"I um..." she started. She had come to tell the headmaster her groundbreaking revelation, but how did one divulge that a professor was immortal without sounding insane?

"Yes dear girl?" asked Dumbledore, "I am a bit curious as to how you managed to get into my office..." he added thoughtfully.

"I guessed," she answered, "a friend of mine, Luna Lovegood brought up some...ah...concerns of mine and I think I may have discovered something important." Dumbledore nodded for her to continue.

"Well I have always had some questions about Professor Emrys. Harry and Ron mentioned him telling them that he knew Matilda Peterson in her seventh year of Hogwarts which would be impossible as she attended Hogwarts from 1917-1924 which would make Professor Emrys 72" Hermione began.

"Are you positive he said he _knew_ her in her 7th year?" asked Dumbledore and Hermione nodded.

"I was confused too, but Ron and Harry repeated exactly what he said and I trust them" replied Hermione, "he also had that magical outburst in class a month or two ago and it didn't seem like any of the teachers knew much about him either which wouldn't make sense if he attended Hogwarts." Dumbledore's eyes were sparkling happily and he encouraged her to continue.

Hermione took a deep breath, "this lead me to believe that Professor Emrys was a lot older than he appeared. I didn't exactly know where to go from there and I honestly wasn't too worried as he's one of the best defense teachers we've ever had. He...seems like a good man. But today I ran into Luna in the halls and she began to tell me about a perplexing conversation she had overheard between Professor and a ghost named the Grey Lady."

"The Grey Lady?" said Dumbledore looking rather surprised.

"I had never heard of her before today" said Hermione.

"That is understandable. She isn't very fond of living creatures" clarified Dumbledore.

"I see. Well Luna mentioned that the Gray Lady and Professor Emrys talked as if they had known each other for many centuries and that they mentioned the Old Religion repeatedly. They discussed Voldemort for a minute before referring to a man named Tom who I assume is Tom Riddle" Hermione continued. Dumbledore's smile grew and the twinkle in his eyes seemed to grow even stronger.

"I remembered hearing about the Old Religion before in a book I had read and...I found it," she said awkwardly. Dumbledore leaned forward in interest as Hermione removed the thick book from her bag.

"I had a theory that Professor Emrys was older than he actually was but..." Hermione added, taking a seat in the overstuffed chair across from the Headmaster. She waited as he read through the marked section and his smile seemed to grow with every word he read. Hermione hadn't known what to expect in Dumbledore's reaction to her news, but excitement and joy was not it.

"I see..." the headmaster finally said as his old blue eyes twinkled happily.

"I think that...Professor Emrys has his own version of a philosopher's stone" she finally said.

"Miss. Granger you have just answered many of the questions I had" Dumbledore said, sounding rather proud.

Hermione was about to ask if the Headmaster agreed with her theory when a large group of people suddenly burst through the entrance to the headmaster's study. Cornelius Fudge, Dolores Umbridge, Percy Weasley, and an assortment of aurors stood awkwardly in the office. Severus Snape and Minerva McGonagall came in soon after them, both seeming out of breath.

"Ah, hello Cornelius" greeted Dumbledore calmly, "would you like a lemon drop?"

Fudge gave the headmaster a look of utter disbelief before shaking his head violently, "Albus Dumbledore you are under arrest for conspiring to overthrow the ministry!"

Both McGonagall and Snape gave the Minister incredulous looks. "That's completely ridiculous!" McGonagall exclaimed. Hermione stood silently in front of the mahogany desk, not sure what to do.

Dumbledore sighed softly, the twinkle in his bright blue eyes dulling slightly, "what are the grounds of these charges Cornelius?"

"You have continued to allow wands in classrooms after my clear warning and I have received word from an inside source that you have been secretly plotting to overthrow the entire ministry with this ridiculous 'order of the phoenix' business!" Fudge yelled, drawing some worried looks from the aurors that accompanied him.

"Albus has no such plans!" snarled McGonagall. Hermione wasn't sure if she had ever seen the old woman so angry before.

"Arrest him! You will be taken to azkaban to await trial!" ordered Fudge. Slowly Dumbledore stood as the aurors moved to grab him.

"I'm sorry Cornelius, I'm afraid that just won't do" he gave Hermione a quick wink before raising his arms in the air. The beautiful phoenix that sat on it's perch in the corner of the room flew right above the headmaster and as Dumbledore's hands clapped together they both disappeared in a fiery tornado.

The entire office sat there in shock as a small wisp of disappeared into the air.

"Find him!" barked Fudge at the aurors, "Delores, I am appointing you headmaster for the time being." Hermione watched as the ministry lackies shuffled out of the room and Snape and McGonagall looked at each other in horror.

"G-go back to your house Miss. Granger" commanded McGonagall in a shaky voice.

Hermione nodded and exited the room. What was to become of Hogwarts with that horrid woman as headmaster? They had no one to defend them anymore.

She sat pondering as she walked back up to the common room before she suddenly remembered what Professor Emrys had told her.

' _Sometimes we have to take things into our own hands.'_

As soon as she was sat on a couch in front of the fireplace, Hermione whipped out a sheet of paper and began to write.

She smiled to herself as she wrote the title at the top of the paper.

 _Dumbledore's Army_

She was ready to take things into her own hands.

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

 **Wow guys! Longest chapter yet! So nows about the point where the story may be different or out of order compared to the book. I'm so glad to get to read all your opinions about Morgana and I'm so excited for you all to read my writing in the future! There was a lot to fit into this chapter so although it is much longer than normal, I will probably go back to 2500-3000 words next chapter. But who knows! If you guys like the longer chapter a lot I may try to stick to it. Tell me what you think!**


	13. Dreams to Nightmares

**Chapter 13**

 **Thank you guys for 40,000 hits and almost 200 reviews! I'm so grateful to have such amazing and loyal readers!**

 _ **Warning: Strong Language**_

It had been a month since Albus Dumbledore's now famous disappearance.

Oh what could change in only a month.

Instead of the tight knit and family-like environment students had grown used to, a new military like aura had enveloped the school. It seemed that Headmistress Umbridge (or Dictator Bitch as students called her when no one could hear) enjoyed coming up with rules that took away any and all activities that were not 'sanctioned by the ministry'. Apparently this was everything.

Three fifth year students stood as part of a crowd watching Filch hammer up yet another ridiculous rule on Umbridge's wall of depression.

"Well there goes our last bit of enjoyment at this bloody school," muttered Ron under his breath, "what's she going to do next? Ban color?"

A few students snickered at this, but were immediately silenced when Umbridge came clicking down the corridor.

"Excuse me," she said in mock politeness, "I believe students are to be back in their common rooms by 4:30. The time now is 4:25."

Some of the younger students shot each other panicked looks before running from the hall, but their older counterparts simply gave the pink woman looks of pure hatred as they slowly shuffled out, with the odd insult muttered once she was barely in ear shot.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione all walked silently up to their designated area. Although students hated her, no one dared defy her. As soon as Dumbledore was gone, the truth about her detentions came out; not that anyone could do anything about it.

Every so often a student would accidentally break one of her ridiculous rules and receive detention so even the most troublemaking of children were quickly whipped into shape.

Fred and George continued to make their products but were too afraid to use them on anyone but close friends after she had kept them both in her office until 6 in the morning writing with her cursed quills.

Although there wasn't much to look forward to in day to day life anymore, the creation of the DA had brought a little joy back to a few.

Although Harry had been tentative at first, the overwhelming enthusiasm the idea had received pushed him to begin his private lessons. Hermione thanked Merlin himself when Neville had stumbled across the Room of Requirement and finally given them a safe place to practice.

A select few teachers had begun to piece together what the Golden Trio was up to along with their little band of troublemakers, but none of them was inclined to do anything about it. Either because they still wanted the students to learn, they themselves had concocted the idea, or they found they hated Umbridge more than Harry Potter.

Harry and Ron always had a good laugh as soon as they reached the common room safely each Tuesday night. Fooling Umbridge must have been one of the most satisfying things they had ever done, and both had a newfound respect for Hermione after she had presented an idea that broke 90% of the Headmistress's new rules.

Although Harry sessions with Umbridge had ended a few weeks prior, he went out of his way to help those who still suffered through them each night. He would sit outside the Head office with his invisibility cloak until a poor soul would come stumbling out and he would immediately offer them a bowl of murtlap essence and a cup of tea. Ron had taken to calling him Grandmother Harriet.

As many risks as the students took trying to help each other, McGonagall and Merlin took one hundred more. The students had started to see them as small spots of light in the darkness Umbridge had created. Even the Slytherins had begun to go to Merlin for help after the burden of her detentions got too much to bear within the house. Merlin suspected the only reason they had finally begun to trust him was that someone had slipped the fact that he had belonged in Slytherin house once upon a time. He wasn't complaining if it helped him tend to the students.

It was nearing Thanksgiving and the sky outside was dark and overcast. Merlin felt a small rush of adrenaline as he packed some papers and books into a worn leather bag. The only light in the room came from the crackling fireplace and a few small candles. Although the room may have been neat originally, but now clothing and papers were scattered about the stone floor and rugs.

Merlin reached up and tapped the handle of Excalibur with his middle and ring fingers for good luck. He wasn't superstitious, but it was a habit he had picked up from his time in the dark ages and he never felt the need to get rid of it.

Making sure the proper locks were latched on the door, he grabbed his wand and put it in the pocket of his overcoat. He took the medium sized pouch of green powder out from the secret compartment he had installed in his wall before removing a handful and replacing the bag. He extinguished the fireplace with a wave of his empty hand and stepped onto the ashes.

"Number Four Grimmauld place" he said clearly and disappeared into the wash of green fire.

About a dozen people were seated around a large circular table and were all talking rather loudly when the fireplace roared up once again. Minerva had told them that Dumbledore had recruited the newest teacher and they were all rather curious to see the newest member.

Most had to admit he was not what they expected.

A tall, lean man stepped from the large fireplace from across the room. He was dressed in well fitting black dress pants and a grey overcoat. He had extremely angular features, which made him rather resemble a muggle model although his face was somehow also kind and inviting.

His hair was a dark brown and rather curly and his eyes shone electric blue. As Sirius looked the new man up and down before smiling a bit. He looked like someone he and James would have been friends with, although for some reason Sirius was reminded of Remus ten years ago.

Merlin stopped in his tracks as the scene in front of him was replaced with another from a time long ago. The round wooden table turned stone and all he could see was long gone friends smiling and saying things in voices he knew he would never hear again. A tear pricked at his eye as Arthur stood to kiss Gwen and Gwaine motioned for Merlin to sit next to him. Although Merlin had never been truly one of them, the Knights of the Round Table were his brothers and friends. He blinked rapidly as his mind was torn back to the present and he looked into faces both new and familiar.

"Ben I'm glad you've made it," said Minerva nodding at a seat between a man with long black hair and a stout man with a receding red hairline. Merlin looked at the Order of the Phoenix and smiled at them all. He took his seat and listened as Minerva continued to introduce him, although his mind was still a thousand years in the past. The members of the Order seemed weary of him although they were as polite as British Royalty. Merlin mostly listened to their conversation and only added the bare minimum.

Most of the wiser members noticed him learning as much about them as they were trying to learn about him. The new man did not seemed confused, although he did not say much during the duration of the meeting.

Molly Weasley could not help but notice an intense type of sadness in the man's eyes. Although his face was bright and youthful, his eyes seemed to hold a million years of loneliness and sorrow. She could not help but stare at the strange new man that had just entered all of their lives.

Merlin stood slowly as the meeting ended; he felt a bit emotionally drained at the moment. As he turned to leave someone tapped lightly on his right shoulder. He turned to face a kind yet worn looking man.

He extended his calloused hand to Merlin with a smile, "I'm Remus Lupin."

Merlin smiled brightly at the man, "ah yes. Some of my students have spoken of you before."

As the two talked, Remus couldn't help but notice as the man's features transformed as he spoke. When he had first seen him, the man had looked painfully nostalgic but now his features radiated youth and he almost seemed to glow.

"So Ben, what's it like spending your days teaching hormonal teenagers?" asked the long-haired man whom Merlin had sat next to during the meeting, "Remus said he loved it but the man's completely batty."

Remus rolled his eyes, "this is Sirius Black," he then turned to Sirius "I may be batty but at least I have manors."

Ben laughed at the exchange between the two. The three of them hit it off and talked for quite a while.

"You know, I used to have a friend that sounds a lot like James" said Merlin with a small smile. Remus noted how the lonely nostalgia returned to Merlin's face.

"Did you now?" asked Sirius, suddenly extremely invested in the conversation.

"Yes, his name was Arthur. Quite the prat when we first met but turned out to be a half decent bloke. Although it took me around five years to actually figure that out" said Merlin with a halfhearted laugh.

As Molly listened to the men's conversation while she cleaned the table, she couldn't help identify the tone Merlin used to talk about his friend as the same one Sirius used when he talked about James. She felt a pang of morbid curiosity as she wondered what Professor Emrys had been though.

"Oh really?" Sirius laughed, "you'll have to take us to meet him sometime!"

Merlin laughed sadly, and looked away from the two men awkwardly.

"He died didn't he?" asked Remus quietly and placed a light hand on Merlin's shoulder when he nodded in return.

"If you ever need someone to talk about it with you have us" he comforted in a way he had done a million times before.

"Thank you. He passed...a very long time ago. Time has taken away a lot of the sting" Merlin said with a kind smile towards the graying man.

Sirius shifted awkwardly, "so, are you free this weekend?"

Merlin gave him a curious look, "I believe so."

"Well than how about the three of us meet up at the three broomsticks Sunday afternoon" he suggested with a trademark smile, "I'm sure we could all use it."

"That sounds nice" said Merlin with a large smile.

"We should probably get going Sirius," said Remus, glancing at the clock, "see you Sunday mate?"

Sirius nodded and Merlin turned to grab some flu power.

"Hey mate, I think I know exactly what you went through with this Arthur bloke...so anytime you want to talk about it I'm here" Sirius said quietly.

"Thank you Sirius, that...means a lot" answered Merlin kindly before disappearing from the room.

Once back in his quarters he slumped slightly as he turned to face Excalibur. He hadn't felt this emotionally drained in a long time. Although he supposed it was rather pleasant, but exhausting.

He collapsed on the bed and fell asleep almost immediately as the fireplace continued to crackle across the room, lulling him into peace.

 **(A few hours before)**

Harry smiled broadly as he watched his classmates laugh and beam brightly. Silvery blue wisps of light filled the room of requirement, reflecting off the stained and shattered glass that lined the walls.

It was a beautiful sight.

"Expecto Patronum!" shouted Hermione with a laugh as a bright and almost solid looking otter burst from the tip of her wand.

"Wow Hermione!" gawked Parvati. Hermione blushed softly as some of the other girls approached her for help.

Harry looked down at his watched and felt his stomach drop. It was way past curfew, and lesson was supposed to end half an hour ago.

"Alright everyone!" he shouted to grab his classmate's attention, "that's it for tonight. We won't have another meeting for a while..."

"Aw c'mon really Harry?" whined Fred.

"This is so much more fun than normal classes" finished George. Some of the other students nodded in agreement.

"Well I'm sure you're all just as excited for Christmas break" smiled Harry.

He waited as everyone filed out of the room before he started to leave. He glanced over to the corner and saw one last person, staring into the stand-alone mirror that was adorned with random photos.

"Cho?" he asked quietly as he came up behind her. She quickly whipped her eyes and turned to face Harry.

"Sorry Harry..."

"Don't apologize. Are you okay?" he asked awkwardly, feeling his heart start to beat faster.

"I just...miss him you know?" Cho said, as she looked at a handsomely smiling picture of Cedric attached to the rim of the mirror.

"Yeah...I miss him too" answered Harry quietly. He quickly glanced at the door.

"Oh don't leave!" Cho said quickly following his eyes, "You must feel awful, me bring him up like this when you saw him die." She mopped her eyes on her sleeve and looked up at Harry.

Her dark brown eyes shone slightly green while her almond cheeks still shown wet with tears. Harry found he couldn't draw himself away from her face.

They stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity before Cho finally broke the silence and glanced upward.

"Look...mistletoe" she said quietly and she moved her eyes back to Harry.

She looked perfectly calm, even if she was still a bit wet. Harry on the other hand felt his stomach churning and his hands sweating. Finally realizing that this was a now or never situation he leaned in and slowly closed his eyes.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Five hours later the kiss was completely out of his mind as he was rushed down the corridors, Ron at one side and Professor McGonagall at the other. He was drenched in a cold sweat and his hands were shaking violently.

In what seemed like seconds, the trio arrived at Professor Emrys's door and McGonagall rapped loudly. The knock seemed to echo throughout the empty halls and Harry felt his head pound heavily. Images flashed before him in rapid succession as he almost passed out once again; most of the images were too blurry to make out.

But there was blood.

So much blood.

After a few moments the heavy door opened slowly and Professor Emrys peaked out wearily from around the corner.

"Minerva? What in the...oh Christ" he muttered as he noticed Harry. The normally pale boy was almost transparent in the dim candlelight.

Harry was brought into the room as Professor McGonagall shooed Ron back to his room.

"But I..." Ron protested.

"You are not needed here at the moment Mr. Weasley" she said seriously, "please try to get some sleep." Her eyes softened slightly at this and Ron reluctantly agreed.

"Harry, what happened?" asked Merlin softly.

"We need to send help now! He's...hurt" Harry finally managed.

"What? Who?" asked McGonagall, her already pale skin was almost translucent in the candlelight.

"Mr. Weasley, I saw it, he's been attacked. He's dying!" Harry yelled hoarsely.

"Harry where is he? What attacked him?" asked Merlin gently.

"A snake; Nagini. But I was the snake...I-I...I think I attacked him" stammered Harry, his sleep deprived mind working as hard as it could.

"Harry where is he?" asked Merlin again urgently.

"It was a big black room with thousands of shelves with millions of glowing orbs on them...I don't know where it was" Harry said, close to tears.

Merlin gave McGonagall a look before she rushed from the room. Merlin gripped Harry's shoulder in a calming gesture.

"It'll be alright Harry, I think we should start teaching you an...extracurricular" Merlin said wearily, dread building inside him.

"What?" asked Harry, still looking horrified.

"Occlumency."

 **XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

 **Okay I will not abandon this story. I know it's literally been forever since I last updated, but my life has been absolutely insane the past month or so. Now that it's spring break I'll have more time to write so another chapter should be up soon.**

 **Again, so sorry for the wait 3**


	14. Harry Potter

**Chapter 14**

 **First off: I didn't even think about Thanksgiving being an American only holiday so I'm sorry I made that mistake. When I do have time I will go back and fix that in the chapter, but right now I'm more concerned with writing more for you guys. Forgive me!**

 **As many of you have realized the characters are starting to differ from canon more and more. I like to see how one new element can affect an entire universe. I'm kind of dedicating this chapter to filling you in on how the characters have changed and what kind of people they are now. Thank you all for sticking with me so far with this story and being such a great audience. I have so much planned for this story and I'm so happy I get to share it all with you!**

 **Disclaimer:**

 **XxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"Get out of my classroom!" yelled Snape, his already guant skin, and paper white.

Harry rushed out of the cold, damp dungeon and down the hall. His hands were shaking and his head pounding. It seemed that either Occlumency just wasn't his forte or Snape was a bloody awful teacher. Harry was leaning towards the second option. He leaned against the wall and sank down to the floor, bringing his bony knees to his chest. His green eyes shone magenta as the red sky reflected off his irises. Harry watched silently as the sun slowly sank on the horizon, setting the sky on fire. He was oblivious to the figure watching him from around the corner. A boy, pale in every sense of the word, studied Harry's face intently. The boy's features entranced him. The trademark Gryffindor furry that normally shone in his eyes was replaced by a gray sadness that sucked the sparkle from his emeralds.

Although he was a bit bitter about Harry Potter stealing his self proclaimed 'pity window', he was more surprised to see the same betrayal and self-hate that he saw in the mirror each morning reflected in his mortal enemy. Only staying a moment longer, he took one last desperate glance at Potter's perplexing features before darting down the dimming corridor.

Harry was yanked from his trance as he heard footsteps rushing away from him. He quickly stood walked over to the corner the sound came from. All he saw was a glimpse of platinum blonde hair disappearing at the end of the hall. Shrugging it off Harry sighed and made his way back up to the Gryffindor common room. He nodded wearily at the few people still studying on the over-stuffed gold and red sofas before climbing the stairs and collapsing on his bed. It seemed that none of his dorm mates had made it back to their room yet and Harry realished in the silence. The sun barely peaked over the horizon and the sky shone red as blood. The light still pouring through the small window near his bed was ablaze with color. Harry had to admit it matched the red and gold decor nicely. He spread out on his back before closing his eyes and slowly drifting off into one of the most peaceful sleeps he had gotten all month.

 **XxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

"I'm telling you Nev, there is no way he would do that," said Ron Weasley loudly as he walked up the stairs to his room. Three of his dorm mates followed behind him, although only one seemed in the mood to talk.

"You sure Ron, cause...I dunno maybe I'm loony," said Neville timidly.

"Bloody right you are, there's no way in..." The redhead trailed off suddenly when he walked into his room and saw his best mate sound asleep on his bed.

Neville quietly walked over to his stuff and began to change while Dean and Seamus conversed quietly.

"You know mate I don't think anyone would believe the ministry's stories about Harry if they saw him sleeping" commented Dean, "lad looks like the most innocent child."

Ron smiled at his friend while Seamus looked uncomfortable.

"I still feel terrible about how I treated him earlier this year" he muttered quietly.

Ron put a hand on his shoulder, "don't worry about it mate. Harry's had worse before, it's not like some...ah, misinformation's gonna knock him off his game. He can endure it."

"Yeah but he shouldn't have to" Seamus said quietly before joining the other two boys in getting ready for bed. Ron sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. It's not as if Seamus was wrong, but he had a feeling that Harry would never see it that way.

It was only when sleep was creeping around the edges of Ron's mind when he wondered if he or Hermione could have lessened the damage Harry's relatives had done to him. Suddenly Ron sat straight up in his bed as all drowsiness was banished from his thoughts. It was no secret that Hermione knew more about things than he did. She was the first one to wonder if the constant neglect from Harry's relatives had really affected his personality back in their second year.

Ron had laughed when she brought it up to him. Surely no one could hurt the great Harry Potter? If He-Who-Must-Not-be-Named couldn't kill him, Muggles couldn't do anything to harm him. At least that's what he thought until their fourth year. In the past Harry had never had any problems brushing off negative energy. There had been points (especially in their second year) where it had been Harry against the world, and in Ron's mind his best mate hadn't ever been any worse for wear. Although looking back that may have been how he was simply used to being treated.

It was only when Diggory died did he see another side to Harry. At first he dealt with the grief with random outbursts and anger, like he was letting out his emotion in small explosions when it got too much. But after a few days, it seemed that Harry had vacated the premises. He only got out of bed when Ron asked him to. He only ate anything when Hermione would quietly beg him at meals. Hermione called it 'depression' but Ron had no clue what to do. It seemed as if the great Harry Potter had been brought to his knees.

And Ron went crashing down with him.

Now he could admit, he had always idolized Harry. He had grown up with a large family but almost no material possessions. When he first met Harry, his entire world changed. He had everything Ron secretly wanted. Endless riches, and a small family. Now he knew that Harry was his only family. For years he only had himself.

Couldn't he and Hermione have done more?

The three of them were a family. He knew Hermione had always wanted siblings, and Harry had always wanted a family. Ron knew he couldn't live without one. When he thought he was getting away from the stifling pressure of a large family, he only found another one. Smaller, but just as loving.

What kind of family let someone go through what Harry had?

For the next few hours Ron lie in bed, unable to sleep the thoughts that now plagued him. How could Harry even call them his friends? Hermione liked to think of herself as the mum of the group, but they had done a terrible job of taking care of Harry.

"Ron?" His head shot up in the direction of the voice and he saw two emerald orbs reflecting the moonlight.

"Did I wake you up?" Ron asked shakily.

Harry shook his head; "I went to bed really early, I think this is the first time I've slept with out a nightmare for a long time."

"Good" smiled Ron.

"So what are you doing up mate? The insomnia is my thing" Harry joked.

Ron was silent for a few moments before blurting out, "Could we have done more to help you Harry?"

Harry's head cocked to one side, "what do you mean?"

"I mean we never really realized how bloody terrible your Aunt and Uncle were. I...I didn't realize things could ever bother you too much; you were invincible in my eyes. I..."

"Ron" Harry interrupted, looking a bit uncomfortable.

"No, I need to tell you this" Ron said forcefully. "Mate, when we first met you had everything I wanted. You were this rich, famous kid who wasn't a giant dick like a lot of purebloods and I think I got it into my head that nothing could get to you. When we got to second year and it seemed like everyone in the school was against you, I just assumed it didn't bother you because you were Harry Potter, the boy who lived, but that's not it."

"What do you mean?" asked Harry.

"It was because you were just used to it" said Ron.

Harry's eyes widened a bit before he sighed and visibly tried to relax, "even if my family did mess me up a little, I'm okay now. I know last year was rough but...I uh...you and Hermione are my real family, and I uh love you guys and I mean...um yeah" Harry stuttered awkwardly, looking like he wanted to run out of the room.

"Now that you two have worked that out would you kindly shut the hell up?" muttered Neville, covering his head with his pillow. Both Ron and Harry turned bright red before awkwardly turning away from one another and hid under their bed sheets.

Ron felt one hundred times lighter, like the weight of the world had been lifted off of his shoulders.

Harry on the other hand was unable to quiet his mind. How messed up did his friends think he was? Sure there had been bad times, but that was normal wasn't it? He had always assumed most people in the world were just inherently bad.

What else did his friends know about him that he didn't?" 

**I'm sorry this chapter is so short. I actually started this as a plot chapter but then it just went off into this Ron Harry scene and I kinda just went with it. I'm trying to develop characters to fit the plot so. I should have another update soon because I have a huge event in the story planned in the next few chapters. I'm interested to know what you all think, so guess in the comments what you think it's gonna be. It'll entertain me I guess lol.**


	15. Brilliance is Found in Strange Places

**Chapter 15**

 **Well I'm officially back! I thank all of you for showing me so much support and being so understanding. It was so nice not to have one extra thing to worry about during finals! And to the couple of comments left telling me I made a mistake following the movie plot instead of the book, just so you** _ **wonderful**_ **individuals know, I did spend quite a while getting the beginning of this story's plot to follow the books as well as I could with the large changes I was making to the OC. The movie plot and book plot are pretty similar so please, for all of us, stop being such a stuck up ass.**

 **Thanks3**

Merlin sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose, "I'm sorry Harry what happened?"

"Um, I don't think Snape will teach me occlumency anymore" Harry answered a bit sheepishly.

"Harry, Professor Snape is the most qualified person to teach you. Why in the world would he refuse to do so?"

"Because he's a bitter old git," muttered Harry.

"As much as that may be true at some times, you still must respect your elders Harry," said Merlin with a small smile.

Harry's face colored a bit, "so who's going to teach me if Professor Snape won't?"

Merlin sighed, "I guess I will have to do."

"You?" asked Harry.

Merlin laughed lightly, "Well I am the only other person in the school that even knows occlumency so it seems the task falls on me. Are you still able to meet at 8 o'clock every Thursday night?"

Harry nodded, "I'm, uh, sorry for the inconvenience Professor."

Merlin smiled warmly at his student, "no inconvenience Harry. I'm happy to teach you if Professor Snape isn't a good match."

Harry nodded and stood to leave, "Thank you Sir."

Merlin watched the heavy door close behind Harry and once again he was alone in his office.

The fire crackled warmly in the corner and Merlin sighed. A strange feeling of peace washed over him and he took a sip of his tea. The earl grey flavor coated his mouth and he smiled. He remembered trying the tea for the first time next to Charles Grey* as the man waited anxiously for his opinion. Merlin had never found a flavor he enjoyed more. It seemed that everything around him had some sort of history he was somehow connected to. Merlin wondered if the world would be different if he had died with Arthur that day. How much had he affected history?

Would the only change be an absence of Earl Grey tea; or much more?

Sometimes Merlin would ache for a normal life. He did admit, life was much easier in the present day but he would always miss his life in the dark ages.

"What was that again Severus?" the Dark Lord asked.

"Potter has been having nightmares. His mental state is a bit fragile and he rarely sleeps more than three hours a night," Snape repeated.

"Would you say the boy would be easier to manipulate at this point in time?"

"Most likely" answered Snape, a bit suspiciously.

Voldemort smiled, "perfect. It seems Harry and I share a connection. He has been seeing bits and pieces of my mind and it seems to, ah, unnerved him slightly."

"Yes sir, but why is this important?" asked Yaxley.

"Well I can exploit it of course" answered Voldemort with a sharp look. Yaxley shrank back in his chair slightly and nodded. "From what I've come to understand is that fragments of my thoughts and emotions are slipping into Potter's mind." Here he gave a very pointed look to Snape, who gave no indication that this was his doing.

"I plan to set a trap by leaking some of my 'thoughts' to Potter, making him think someone close to him is in grave danger. We all know that the _noble_ hero will do anything to save his friends. Then we will use him to obtain the prophecy and I will dispose of him."

Most the death eaters nodded enthusiastically at their master's plan, but only one kept his emotions in check.

"My Lord, how will you control which thoughts escape to Potter, how will you forge the fake ones?" asked Severus Snape, eyes slightly narrowed.

"With your help of course Severus" answered Voldemort with a blood curdling smile, "you are a master of the mind after all."

"Yes, but so are you My Lord" Snape countered.

As soon as it appeared Voldemort's smile vanished, "I will advise you to stop questioning me Severus."

Snape nodded and sat back in his chair, avoiding the eyes of every other person in the room. Voldemort droned on about his plans for another quarter hour before Snape was suddenly drawn back into the meeting.

"...Emrys?" Voldemort was saying. Snape sat up in his chair and watched intently as Malfoy began to speak.

"He has joined the Order" was all he said. Voldemort stiffened in his throne and any human emotion from his face vanished, replaced by a terrifying, cold rage.

"Severus, what is your report?"

"From the files we have discovered, Ben Emrys is 23 years old. Although from how he speaks of his adventures he is either older than he says or lying about what he has done. He most likely belonged to the Slytherin house..." Snape trailed off as a collective gasp echoed around the table.

"For now this is all we need, thank you Severus" said Voldemort, "as we all know now the mysterious new teacher at Hogwarts is a blood traitor." The rage on the Dark Lord's face was more than almost everyone at the table had ever seen before.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Harry!" yelled Hermione as the boy who lived suddenly collapsed onto the floor. Other students in the hallway stopped to stare and a few rushed forward to help Hermione.

"What happened?" asked a seventh year Ravenclaw neither Gryffindor had ever spoken to before.

"I don't know, he just collapsed," answered Hermione, "his head has been hurting for the past few hours but..."

The Ravenclaw nodded and helped Hermione hoist Harry up off the cold ground. They draped his arms over their shoulders and began to hurry up toward the hospital wing. After a long trek up many flights of stairs, the three arrived outside the looming wooden doors.

"I think...I will leave you...here if that's...alright" the Ravenclaw panted. Hermione nodded and thanked the boy, wiping the thin layer of sweat off her forehead. She pushed open the double doors and hauled Harry into the room.

"Yes?" asked Madam Pomfrey, "what happened!" she exclaimed as she turned around.

"He just collapsed Ma'am, he said his head had been hurting for a couple of hours and then he grabbed his head and just...collapsed" Hermione attempted to explain while the healer took her friend from her.

"I see..." Madam Pomfrey sighed, "thank you for bringing him here Ms. Granger."

Hermione nodded and moved to a corner of the room. After situating Harry in a bed the Healer turned to face her again.

"You may come visit later Ms. Granger. I'm sure you and all Mr. Potter's friends will want to mob him as soon as he wakes up" she said firmly, but not unkindly. Hermione nodded and left the room slowly, looking over her shoulder to gaze at her sleeping companion.

Unsure of what to do she wandered around the castle for a while, not in the mood to socialize with others at the moment.

She was about to pass by the library once again but instead she stopped just a few steps short. Reading always calmed her and there were still some interesting books she had found that Hermione had yet to read. Madam Pince nodded at the bookworm politely as she walked into the enormous room and Hermione gave a small smile back.

She wandered over to one of the more hidden bookshelves and began to scan. Her eyes rested on a book about myths, legends, and theories about wizarding history. She had seen it a few times before, but had never gotten the chance to read it (that and she wasn't too fond of books not based on hard facts). She pulled the enormous book from it's dusty place on the shelf and began to read. Although most of the book was obviously just speculation, a few passages caught Hermione's eye.

"Horcrux?" she muttered.

"A powerful object in which a dark witch or wizard has hidden a fragment of his or her soul for the purpose of obtaining immortality?" Hermione's eyes widened as she read on.

"The only known creator of a Horcrux was Herpo the Foul" Hermione narrowed her eyes a bit, "definitely _sounds_ foul."

Bookmarking the information in her mind she read on. Some passages were written in Latin or another strange language she did not recognize. Where had this book come from? She continued to scan pages, seeing information she already knew. There was an extremely detailed description on every known type of dragon, better than any she had seen before.

"This would have been useful last year..." she said, turning the page.

"Druids?" she mumbled, lost in the pages. She had heard of the ancient magic users before, but she couldn't place where.

"Although the most well known Druids resided in England, the most dense population of the ancient wizards was located in Scotland. Most Druid prophecies and legends have been lost to the ages, but still a few remain. The most notable of which is the tale of Albion" Hermione read, "I've never heard of Albion before."

She felt her curiosity peak as she read the next sentence, "This is better known as the tale of King Arthur and Merlin."

"The Druids predicted the birth of a powerful warlock a hundred years before the child was born. They knew that one day the King and his Sorcerer would one day create the land of Albion, a land of peace that encompasses all of Great Britain. Merlin, whose Druid name was Emrys, was to continue the quest even after King Arthur died. The two..." Hermione trailed off and her eyes widened.

"Druid name was...Emrys?" she said and suddenly everything fell into place.

"Oh my god!" she said, much too loudly. She caught herself and looked around, but no one came. Looking around one last time, she slipped the book into her bag and stood to exit the library. Madam Pince gave her a nod as she left, which Hermione attempted to calmly return although she knew she must have looked rather frantic. The witch practically ran to the Gryffindor common room and sprinted to her dormitory once she was inside. Luckily, her dorm mates were down at dinner and she was left to theorize in peace.

"Okay Hermione let's look at the facts: his magical power was off the charts, he's a Slytherin but a nice one, he says he knows people that were alive almost a hundred years ago...and...and...a book says the Druid word for Merlin is Emrys. Professor Ben Emrys" she muttered to herself as she paced across the room, "oh gosh I wish I could talk to Dumbledore about this. I mean. I can't confront Professor Emrys, can I?"

Suddenly Lavender and Parvati burst into the room, smiling and laughing.

"Oh, hi Hermione" said Lavender with a smile. Hermione smiled back and the two girls went back to their gossip while Hermione turned back to the book on the desk in front of her.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Now Harry, I want you to close your eyes and relax. Think of the moment before you go to sleep. Stay conscious but clear your mind of all thoughts and emotions" said Merlin calmly, looking at the young boy sitting at the chair across from his desk. He waited for a few minutes before speaking again.

"Now, I want you to imagine a wall. Make it as strong as you can and hide all your thoughts and emotions behind it." Harry imagined a brick wall in his mind and only a void in front of it and everything else in his mind behind it. Merlin smiled.

"Very good Mr. Potter. I'm going to walk you through some exercises to help you control your emotions and clear your mind. I want you to do these whenever you start to get a headache, feel sudden spikes of emotion, and before you go to sleep."

Harry opened his eyes and nodded. Already his lesson with Professor Emrys had been more productive than any of his lessons with Snape.

They spent the next hour working through the exercises and when Harry stood to leave his teacher's office he felt more at peace than he had since Cedric's death.

"Oh I'm sorry Mr. Potter I forgot to ask, how are you feeling? I heard about your little, ah, _incident_ yesterday" Merlin said, looking at his student with a worried look.

Harry laughed uncomfortably, "yeah, I've been having some light headed spells lately but Madam Pomfrey gave me some potions to take so I'm sure it's fine now." Merlin was a bit worried at how quickly he brushed off such a worrying incident but instead of pressing him further he simply smiled and bade him goodnight.

Harry left the room in high spirits, almost excited to do his extra homework. If it made him this calm before bed every time then maybe he would finally be able to sleep well again. The prospect of a good night's sleep boosted his spirits more. As he entered the common room he even caught himself humming quietly.

"Harry?" asked a small voice from the corner of the common room. Harry whipped his head around to see the youngest Wesley child studying in a plush red armchair in a quiet corner.

"Ginny!" Harry said with a smile, "How are you?"

She smiled at him sleepily and shifted the papers that surrounded her, "just finishing an essay for Charms. You know, generally having a great time."

Harry laughed; more than he had in a long time, "need any help?"

Ginny shook her head, "I'm pretty much finished, although I wouldn't mind some company."

Harry smiled, grabbing a chair and dragging it over to face his friend. He missed the small dusting of red that adorned Ginny's cheeks while he worked.

"Y-you seem like you're in a better mood than normal" she commented.

"I don't know" Harry sighed, "I think it's just the potions Madam Pomfrey gave me."

Ginny scribbled down another few sentences before answering, "No, I mean back to how you used to be before..." she trailed off.

"Oh...thanks I guess..." Harry said, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head.

"Sorry I didn't mean it that way" Ginny said, trying as hard as she could to hide her embarrassed blush.

"It's fine...Ron and Hermione have told me the same thing...just in a more blunt way" Harry said with a small smile.

"I know it's been a rough year Harry, it's been hard for everyone. Not that any of us can actually understand what you've been though. But I mean...personally...I think you're doing a great job" Ginny said, her eyes determined and face serious.

Harry sat in silence for a few moments, before giving Ginny an incredulous look, "t-thanks Ginny. You're actually the first person to tell me that."

Ginny smiled happily and went back to finishing her essay. Harry stood and climbed the stairs to his dormitory. It was still rather early but he found his eyes drooping quite a bit.

"I guess I can just take a little nap" he muttered, collapsing down on his bed.

In later years Ron would joke that Harry had pretty much died for a day or so and as much as Harry would deny it, it was the best sleep he had ever gotten in his entire life.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXx

 **Well there we go guys! A pretty action packed chapter if I do say so myself. I've been making a general rule for myself not to upload any chapters under 2.5k words. I have about 30-40 chapters planned for this entire story, but I was wondering if you guys would rather I combine chapters so there will be a few less but the one's I do update will be longer. I'm not quite sure what I want to do yet so I guess just comment your opinions. I'm so happy about how much people love this story so far, it really makes my day.**

 **See you all next update!**


	16. The Boy with eyes like Marble

**Chapter 16**

 **Well here's another chapter! I really hope you guys enjoy it. I don't think you understand how much your support means to me and I'm so glad you guys are following this story. Just to apologize in advance for the huge delay parts of this chapter was really hard for me to write but here you go.**

 **XxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

A beam of golden sunlight shown through the heavy red curtains covering the large window on his left. The grounds looked reminiscent of a landscape painting created over a century ago. The soft, fresh blanket of snow coated the earth lying completely undisturbed, save for a line of fresh deer prints that artistically wove across the white canvas. The sky shown a perfect powder blue with not a cloud in sight. Scotland had not seen a more beautiful winters day in years.

Yet Merlin groaned as he slowly woke in his bed.

His head pounded painfully and his throat felt as though someone had rubbed sandpaper on it for hours.

"Bloody Hell" Merlin muttered horsely, sitting up slowly and rubbing his temples. Confused, he glanced over to the large mirror facing his bed. Even he had to admit it looked as if Death himself had paid him a long visit the night before.

His normally pale skin shown almost pure white against his black shirt and the normally prominent bags under his eyes now resembled rather nasty bruises. He sniffed as he stared at his reflection. Making up his mind, he stood up slowly and slipped on a pair of shoes shuffling like an elderly man down the corridors of the castle to the Hospital Wing.

He groaned as he passed a pair of chatty students. If Merlin hadn't given up alcohol long ago he would be convinced he was suffering from the worst hangover of his very long life.

"Ben!" greeted Madam Pomfrey happily. She turned to him with a smile, which faded into a look of motherly scorn when she saw the condition he was in.

"Oh dear, a bit too much to drink last night?" she said with a small laugh. Merlin smiled but shook his head.

"I...no Poppy, no alcohol for me."

"Must be a cold then, I'll get you a couple pepper up potions" she said, and Merlin's eyes widened in surprise.

"A cold?" he muttered, "I haven't had a cold since Arthur was king."

Madam Pomfrey laughed in blissful ignorance and Merlin winced at his obvious slip up.

"Well I'm going to confine you to bed for today and please make sure to get plenty of fluids. Come back to me if you start to feel worse" she said, writing some information down on official-looking sheets.

Merlin nodded and downed the first potion in one swig, saving the other one for when the effects wore off. He shuffled back to his chambers and collapsed into his soft mattress.

"Bloody fucking hell what's going on?" he muttered to himself as he burrowed deep down into the plush comforter on his bed. Merlin truly hadn't had a cold since Arthur was king. After his final battle with Morgana and the death of his best friend he had gotten extremely sick. Guias had explained that the enormous strain that had been forced on his magic had drained the powers at Merlin's immediate exposal.

They had discovered when he used too much magic all at once his mortal body rejected the strain and grew ill. But at the moment Merlin could not for the life of him identify what was causing that strain now.

Growing weary of his useless conjecture, Merlin's mind slowly drifted off into a half sleep where he would stay for the remainder of the day.

XxXxXxXxXxXx

A bushy head of hair was all that was visible through a large pile of books haphazardly strewn about on the library table.

Hermione had spent her Sunday desperately trying to find any other mention of Merlin or Emrys in any of the books in the library, but so far her search had yielded nothing.

Although she was still quite frazzled over the epiphany she had the night before, she refused to truly accept the information until she could find another source that also verified the information. Although her theory would seem bulletproof to most, her conscious mind refused to accept it as the truth until she could find more resources to back it up.

Her unconscious on the other hand had already fully accepted that Hermione was completely right. She had even imagined confronting Professor Emrys with this information although in reality she knew she never could.

She had not yet revealed her findings to Ron or Harry for fear of one of them rejecting her seemingly ridiculous theory.

Rubbing her temples wearily, she decided it was time to stretch her legs for a few moments before returning to her research. She passed a group of gryffindor first years in the hall and smiled a bit to herself. Glancing out the window she could almost see Ron, Harry, and the twins throwing snow behind icy barricades as they laughed and threw secretly enchanted lumps of white powder at one and other. Whenever she imagined her friends she always saw them as younger than they really were. Maybe it was just her mind yearning for a more peaceful time in her life. She knew that if she hadn't befriended Harry most of the hardship she had ever experienced would have been erased from her history but she was secretly glad to have escaped the completely sheltered confines of her childhood home.

Hermione loved her mother and father more than she would ever understand but the Grangers had always been a bit too protective of their precocious daughter. Even now, Hermione sometimes struggled to get them to see her as a person and not just their daughter.

She shook her head softly and with a small smile wandered away from the cold air drafting through the castle halls. As much as she might secretly complain in her own mind, she would never change any of the decisions she made in her life. She had friends and family who loved her and appreciated her for her strengths and weaknesses.

That was all she could ever have hoped for.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

White blonde hair was once again pushed out of cold blue eyes. Draco Malfoy glared at the door of the teachers lounge as he had been for the past quarter of an hour. He was about as impatient he could be and felt a wash of frustration as he imagined all the things he could be doing instead of waiting here and wasting time.

"Bloody hell" he muttered, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms. He didn't know why his father insisted on continuing to meet in the staff room at Hogwarts instead of a private room at the Three Broomsticks. It would have been much more secure.

He chalked it up to overconfidence. His father must have felt immune to any sort of punishment at this point in his life.

Draco jumped slightly when the door finally opened and in walked a tall black cloaked man.

"Hello Draco" he said rather monotonically and Draco nodded in return, "we have some things to discuss."

Draco's eyes fluttered to the window for a moment before returning to his father's face, "yes father, I think we do."

Lucius Malfoy narrowed his eyes at his son for just a moment before continuing on, "you know of your responsibility to this family."

"Yes, to the Malfoy name" answered Draco.

"As of late our friend has begun to see this family as a burden more than an asset" Lucius said, slowly, watching his son's face.

"I am aware" Drace replied in a monotone, 'and so is everyone else' he added in his mind.

"Do you understand your responsibility in this Draco?"

"Is this about what we discussed in August?" he asked, noting that this meeting seemed to be between two business partners and not a father and son.

"It is" his father answered, "I assume you take this responsibility with the highest regard. The Dark Lord does not ask just anyone to join him."

"Father..." Draco started before taking a deep breath.

"What is it Draco?" asked Lucius, only half listening.

"I...just because I am a Malfoy does not mean I want to follow in your steps" Draco said quickly, averting his father's gaze.

"I'm sure I didn't hear you properly" Lucius said slowly, all his attention now on his only son, "that is exactly what being a Malfoy means."

Draco fidgeted in his seat before clenching his fists and sitting up straight. If he was going to do this, he was going to do it right.

"Maybe that's what it means to you but not to me" he said in a confident voice that did not match his feelings inside. His father stared at him open mouthed for a moment too stunned to say anything.

"I will not be spoken to like this by my own son! Have you gone mad Draco?" he finally growled.

"No Father but I think you may have" Draco stood up, "asking your fifteen year old son to take over your job in a dark wizard's army is mad, grooming your child to hate people from birth is mad, using your influence and money to bully the wizarding world instead of...oh I don't know... _actually doing something right?_ That's mad Father. If all those things mean being a Malfoy, then maybe I don't want to be a part of this family anymore." By the end of his little speech Draco's voice shook and tears threatened to spill from his eyes.

Not trusting his own emotions, he ran from the room and down the halls as fast as he possibly could.

"DRACO" he heard his Father scream angrily from the room behind him. This normally would have frozen him in fear, but instead Draco pushed his legs to move faster.

He ran for what felt like forever until reaching a part of the castle he was positive he had never been to before.

Placing his elbows on the nearest windowsill he felt a sob build in his throat. Certain that no one was anywhere near him as most students had gone to Hogsmeade for the day, he let all the emotion he had held in for the last 15 years of his life finally escape his body.

Draco was positive he hadn't cried since he was four years old, but now all the built up emotions had broken through his carefully constructed facade.

After the initial sobbing had died down Draco placed his head in his hand and rested his body weight against the windowsill. Tears still streamed from his shining blue eyes, but no more noise escaped his body.

After a moment he felt a presence appear next to him. Normally Draco would have panicked at a fellow student seeing him in his current situation, although surprisingly at the moment he found he couldn't care less.

"I could hear you from the common room" said Harry Potter, his voice almost kind. Draco raised his head and shot a half-hearted glare at his nemesis.

"Fuck off Potter" he muttered, placing both his hands on the window and leaning out slightly to feel the winter breeze dry the tears staining his porcelain face.

"If I hadn't known better I would have assumed you were a girl who's bloke had just dumped her" Harry said, keeping his figure relaxed and his eyes trained on the ceiling.

Against his better judgement Draco snorted, "I bet I could tell you the same thing sometimes Potter."

Harry signed, drawing Draco's gaze, "probably." The blonde boy studied the other's face. Ever since he had met the boy who lived he saw a permanent sadness in his eyes; it was one of the things that caused him to truly attempt to befriend him that first day on the train. Although he refused to admit it to himself now, deep down he knew he had gone about that completely wrong. Draco had started their downhill relationship and most likely fueled it to the toxic thing it had become.

The two boys sat in silence for a quarter of an hour before Draco finally spoke up.

"Why'd everything end up as such a cock up?" he asked quietly, keeping a now neutral face trained on the horizon in front of him.

Harry looked over at the Slytherin, a soft breeze ruffled his normally immaculate hair, "you're kind of a huge prick Malfoy."

A small smile tugged at Draco's mouth, "guess I am."

"I always had this idea in my head that anyone that's going to be evil was born that way" Harry said suddenly, "but... I guess a lot of things have changed for both of us this year."

Draco turned to face Harry and cocked an eyebrow, "don't get all sappy on me now Potter. We're supposed to hate each other remember?"

Harry shook his head and looked Draco straight in the eyes, "are we though? How much of that was people telling us we had to hate each other? I mean for Merlin's sake Malfoy the only thing you were taught growing up was how much better you were than everyone else! This stupid house rivalry we have is the reason most the problems in this world exist in the first place."

"So you're finally admitting that Slytherin doesn't shadow in comparison to the noble power that is Gryffindor?" Draco asked, crossing his arms.

"I never thought that Malfoy!" Harry said, gesturing wildly, "I mean half the kids in that house turn out bad because that's all they've been told that they're allowed to be! My dad... he had this group of mates and they were inseparable."

"Like you and the holy golden trinity" Draco teased maliciously, but shut his mouth at the look Harry gave him.

"Yeah... I guess so. But they just got up to no good all the time. Sirius Black, he was my dad's best mate. From what I've heard they were brothers in anything but blood. Another one of his mates Peter Pettigrew..."

"Isn't that the bloke Black killed?" Draco broke in.

Harry laughed bitterly, "he's not dead."

"What?" Draco asked.

"When Voldemort started targetting my mum and dad they did this carm called the Fidelius Charm that hid them from everyone but the person they chose as their secret keeper."

"Everyone knows that Black gave them up to Voldemort Potter, what's your point?" Malfoy rolled his eyes.

"He didn't though" snapped Harry, "my dad decided that Sirius would be too obvious of a choice so he chose Peter." Malfoy raised an eyebrow.

"Pettigrew betrayed them. He's the reason my parents are dead and I have to deal with all the shit I do."

"I'm...sorry about that Potter but what does it have to do with me?" Draco asked awkwardly.

"Pettigrew was a Gryffindor; they all were. Just because more Slytherins are conditioned to hate muggles doesn't mean you're all truly evil and...what Pettigrew did was worse than what any Slytherin could do to any of us. Being conditioned to hate isn't your fault." Harry tried to explain.

"Because your dad only gave him friendship and he betrayed him" guessed Draco. Harry nodded.

"I guess we both might still have some growing up to do" sighed Draco as he watched Harry with care.

"Tell me Malfoy, did we just have an actual conversation without screaming or trying to kill each other?" asked Harry suddenly, with a sarcastically surprised tone.

"I believe we did" answered Draco equally sarcastically. The two boys looked at each other for a few more moments.

"Let's never speak of this again" they said in tandem. Draco faced out the window to hide an unwilling smile.

"Thanks Potter" he whispered turning to face Harry, but he was greeted with nothing. Shaking his head, he walked down the corridor while Harry Potter hidden by the invisibility cloak he always kept on his person fought to hide a smile.

Those were two words he never thought he would hear from Draco Malfoy.

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 **So sorry this update took months' guys. I have no excuses except for life got in the way. I know I promised to update more and I feel so guilty basically doing the complete opposite of that. On the plus side I do really like this chapter. Although Draco's character development may seem a little rushed to some people, I feel like their 5th year was a defining year for him. He could choose good or bad and in cannon he chose bad because he had no one to tell him otherwise. But in this story he did, and I feel like Draco is uncommitted to the dark lord enough in cannon that it would only take one outside force to really push him over the edge. I do think it was quick but Draco isn't the main focus of this story so...sorry. (but i love the interaction between him and Harry. I love Drarry as a pairing and although it's not in this story I couldn't help myself.)**


	17. Strange Events

**Chapter 17**

"Bloody Hell" muttered Blaise Zabini as he heard soft whimpers coming from down the hall. If he had to hear one more teary first year complain about how they missed their mum he was going to lose it. The fifth year Slytherin wasn't exactly the most sympathetic and paternal person on the planet.

"I'm not even a Prefect for Merlin's sake, why do I have to deal with these sniveling wimps?" he muttered to himself as he approached the source of the noise.

There he saw Roy Jamison, a third year, clutching his left arm and sobbing uncontrollably. From what Blaise knew, Roy was an outgoing, more popular member of the Slytherin house.

"Jamison" he called coldly, watching as the boy's head snapped up in fear.

Blaise faltered in his facade. The poor bloke looked like a cornered animal.

"I'm not doing anything wrong I promise!" Roy practically shouted at the fifth year, "she can't do it if I'm not breaking any rules!"

"Woah mate slow down" said Blaise uncomfortably, "what happened?"

Slowly, Roy held his arm out to Blaise. Blaise had never felt so appalled in his entire life. The words 'I shall not speak out of turn' were etched multiple times onto his arm. The most recent ones bleed heavily while the remainder of his arm was covered in at least a dozen fading scars.

"Fucking...who the hell did this?" Blaise asked in shock.

Roy looked around for a moment before whispering one word to Blaise, "U-Umbridge."

Blaise took the boy and walked him roughly towards Professor Emrys' study as he was the closest person that Blaise could yell at. All the while he let the anger building up inside him grow. He hammered on the Professor's door, his grip on Roy's shoulder almost painful. How dare this happen to a Slytherin? Another more logical part of his brain told him it was probably happening to the other houses as well but at the moment he could care less about anyone but the terrified boy next to him. He had noticed that Potter took great care to cover his arms after his frequent detentions with the woman but teachers liked Potter. Why wouldn't he have said something to one of them?

His thoughts were interrupted when Professor Emrys opened the door and looked at the two Slytherins in surprise, "Mr. Zabini, how unexpected."

"Did you know about this?" Blaise snarled suddenly, holding out Roy's damaged arm. He watched the Professor's face turn chalk white as he ushered the two inside.

"Mr. Jamison what happened to you?" he asked urgently, grabbing various supplies from a cupboard. Roy looked up to Blaise who nodded in the most supportive way he could manage.

"I g-got in trouble while Professor U-Umbridge was watching my charms class" Roy started shakily, "s-she made me do detention with her again."

Any anger Blaise may have harbored towards Professor Emrys suddenly dissipated as he watched the man's features twist in a quiet rage, "so that's her idea of detention?" Roy was unsure of how to respond so he simply nodded meekly.

"If you wouldn't mind Mr. Jamison, may I take a still of your arm?" Merlin asked in a monotone voice. Roy nodded again and Merlin took out his wand, saving a still and transferring it to a blank sheet of parchment.

"Thank you Mr. Jamison" Merlin said with strained kindness while he wrapped the boy's arm in a makeshift bandage, "Mr. Zabini if you wouldn't mind taking Mr. Jamison to the hospital wing, I have some business to take care of." Blaise looked as if he wanted to say more, but after seeing the stern look on the normally carefree Professor's face decided against it.

As he was leaving Merlin leaned in and whispered in Blaise's ear, "please make a list of students you know have served detention with _Professor_ Umbridge recently and give it to me as soon as you can." Surprised at the Professor's tone Blaise turned to face the defense professor one last time. His normally bright blue eyes were dark and stormy and the disgusted scowl seemed out of place on the mouth he normally only saw smiling.

Merlin waited a few moments after the boys had left before leaving to storm down the hall. He wandered for a small amount of time before he spotted a splash of pink against the bleak, snow covered grounds.

Walking briskly to the courtyard he attempted to calm himself and prepare to present his point rationally, but any self-control he built up shattered as soon as his feet hit the snow. Turning to face him, Umbridge cleared her throat.

"Hello Professor" she said in a distasteful tone. Merlin approached her silently, unaware of the hordes of students coming their way.

"Madam I was aware you had strict tactics but I never imagined you would be sadistic enough to torture the students!" Merlin yelled, his mind clouded in rage. Several of the students on the path back from Hogsmeade pointed at the commotion and soon dozens of students quickly flocked to the edges of the courtyard to watch the two teachers.

Umbridge sputtered in indignation, "how dare you sir! I was sent here by the Minister to do what is best for the students!"

"Bollocks!" yelled Merlin, "we knew you had been doing... _something_ to those poor children but a black quill? Are you insane?" The shadows began to grow longer as Merlin's rage grew. A few students gasped at the Professor's tone while others fought to hide giggles.

"I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about Professor!" said Umbridge in a high tone. By now a majority of the Hogwarts student body both from inside the castle and from Hogsmeade had flocked to the courtyard to watch the argument.

"You're insane woman!" yelled Merlin, "how dare you come into this school and act like the savior of our students! I couldn't stand you from the moment I saw you and now I know why. You are sadistic and horrible. How dare you treat these innocent children like bloody criminals!" Some students began to stare at the sky. Ron looked next to him to exchange a look with Harry. His best mate seemed equally dumbfounded by the argument happening before them.

Most of the students, however, stared at Merlin slack jawed. They had never seen a professor speak like that before. Some of the students unconsciously scratched wounds in their arms both new and old as most knew exactly what their Professor was talking about. The sky continued to grow darker as a strange shadow consumed half the sun.

"You insubordinate little...I'll have you fired for this!" threatened Umbridge, face red with anger and embarrassment.

"Yes well then I think I might have you arrested" Merlin answered in a dangerously calm tone, "you've now lost favor with the Slytherins and they were your last defense." He suddenly turned on his heel and strode back into the castle. Students began to frantically murmur among themselves. Murmurs turned to shouts as the few rays of sunlight left were consumed in shadow and the sun was completely blacked out of the sky.

"An eclipse?" whispered Hermione as she turned to look at Ron.

Ron shook his head nervously, "something strange is happening."

"Really Ronald? I never would have guessed" Hermione stared after Professor Emrys. She had never seen him that angry before and now a sudden eclipse. She couldn't help but imagine that the two were connected. Her 'ridiculous' theory was beginning to feel more plausible by the moment.

Harry stood silently while the students around him murmured worriedly and stared at the sky. Umbridge stood still as a statue and red faced before storming off into the castle after the defense professor.

He looked at Hermione and saw the gears in her mind rotating as she looked after the two professors.

Taking her arm lightly he leaned over, "tell me later." Hermione whipped her head to look at him, surprised, before sighing softly and nodding. Even she had to admit that maybe her friends may know her a little too well.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

He sat in a dark corner. He felt the boy's confusion, though it was weak. Voldemort frowned; it seemed a certain Potter had begun to learn Occlumency. A tentative knock on the door across the room drew him from his thoughts.

"Come in" he announced, rising from the plush chair he had been resting on. The door immediately opened and revealed Jonathan Parkinson standing stiffly.

"Ah Mr. Parkinson" Voldemort said, coldly regarding the man, "what a...surprise."

"My Lord, my daughter has given me some...interesting information that I think you would benefit from hearing."

"Speak" commanded Voldemort, standing tall over the normally confident and bossy man.

"She...has brought to my attention some, ah, interesting information about the newest Professor at Hogwarts" Parkinson said, wringing his hands nervously.

Voldemort's demeanor changed immediately at the other man's words. He smiled slightly and gestured over to the table on the other side of the room.

Parkinson took a seat on one end and the Dark Lord seated himself on the other, "please tell me more about this...information you've acquired."

"My daughter, Pansy and some of her...friends have been watching both the Gryffindors and Professor Emrys closely for a while now." Parkinson started, "they discovered that the mudblood Granger has been researching the name Emrys for quite some time now and has returned time and time again to books on the Arthurian Legends. They have been unable to discover why but they have been able to deduce it has something to do with the Druid language of old."

Voldemort nodded and gave Parkinson a look that made him feel as if he was peering into his very soul, "is that all?"

He shook his head, "I received word from my daughter just hours ago that Professor Emrys and Professor Umbridge had a very public fight due to her use of a black quill on students during detentions-"

"A black quill?" interrupted Voldemort, "it's strange to see a ministry official using dark magic." An extremely unnerving smile adorned his pale lips.

"Y-yes. My daughter reported that Professor Emrys was absolutely livid at the prospect of that kind of treatment of students" Parkinson said, in a matter of fact tone. Voldemort leaned in slightly and looked Jonathan Parkinson in the eye.

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Right after the argument ended there was an eclipse. It only lasted a few minutes but no eclipse was expected in this area of the world for at least 5 years."

"Are you telling me the eclipse was caused by Emrys?" asked Voldemort, snake-like eyes flashing dangerously.

"The facts may point that way yes" Parkinson seemed uncomfortable as he wrung his hands beneath the table.

"Leave me now" commanded Voldemort. Parkinson nodded and rushed from the room.

Standing, the dark wizard strode over to the bookshelves across the room and withdrew a book from the shelves. He had done research on the mysterious professor but it had not occurred to him to consult Arthurian legends and why would it?

The Granger child was undoubtedly intelligent; if only her lineage had been pure. He could have put her mind to good use. The gold lettering on the cover of the book was faded to oblivion and a cloud of dust rose from the pages as he opened it.

He turned to the pages on Druid translation, although he did not have much hope. Only a handful of words were understood in modern times of the ancient Druid language; mostly common words found in every tongue still spoken today. He doubted 'Emrys' was among them.

First on the page was the word _Rex_ and below it was _Priceps._ Both apparently meant 'king' but the first was used to refer to the king of kings or as most assumed: King Arthur. Below the book mentioned that the word _Rex_ was commonly associated with the word _Emrys._ Most historians thought it was used to refer to either a knight of the round table or Arthur's right hand man.

The great Warlock Merlin.

Voldemort's slit-like eyes grew wider than they had been in a decade. Was it possible? All the facts seemed to fit. He was a Slytherin although he seemed to disagree with everything that made one a Slytherin. One of his spies in the school had snuck into the man's room and reported that most of the room seemed average of one who traveled. Out of all the artifacts, they had unable to find the origin of a red and gold banner picturing the symbol of a dragon. It seemed out of place in the Slytherin's room as did an intricate sword mounted on the wall apparently protected by many complex spells.

Historians agreed unanimously that the colors of Camelot had been red and gold. He was unsure whether the banner in Emrys's room had been the family crest but it seemed possible.

Voldemort sat back in his plush seat across the room, there was much to contemplate but he was sure that the mysterious man fighting for the light was much more powerful than he let on.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Deep in the forbidden forest the ground shown dark; the foliage above too thick for even a sliver of light to shine though. Creatures both innocent and vile roamed the earth in search of both sanctuary and their next meal.

Suddenly, as if by magic, a pool bubbled up from the earth and stood completely still as if it had not been touched in a thousand years. The wind blew harshly and the trees parted with the aches and creaks of an old man.

The pool was hit by sudden moonlight and smaller animals scuttled forward, feeling safety in the rare appearance of light.

The forest stood still again and seemed to return to normal before a terrible scraping noise sounded thought the vast woods.

A gilded sword lie still on the damp grass, the impossibly perfect blade catching the moonlight now streaming freely through the small openings in the leaves.

A bubble reached the surface of the pond and popped. Another followed it, then another.

The pool started to foam and glowed with a golden light that was separate from the silver beams of the moon.

As soon as the strange events started, they stopped.

But before the pool had a chance to return to its glass like state, a single iron-clad hand burst from the surface and grabbed the sword lying on the grass. A visible ring of energy appeared as the two connected as if two beings destined to be together had just reunited for the first time in 1000 years.

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 **I tried to make this vague and I think I failed but whatever. Feel free to theorize what will happen next in the comments, I'm curious to see what you think. I think this is the fastest I've ever written and proofread a chapter but I was so excited I couldn't stop. I really hope you guys enjoyed this one because I'm having a great time writing this story. Everything's about to get a lot more exciting.**


	18. The Once and Future King

**Chapter 18**

 **I want you guys to know that I appreciate your support so much and I'm so glad you're all looking forward to this chapter. Just so you know I will not be following cannon from the actual Arthurian legends just from the show. The show varies differently from the actual legend but I did get a very interesting suggestion on something I could incorporate into my story without varying too far from the show itself. I don't know much about the true Arthurian legend so if anyone else has any suggestions I would be happy to hear them.**

 **Just btw Umbridge kinda reminds me of Trump and I don't know why.**

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Violent winds swirled around the mansion atop a hill overlooking the small English village below. Voldemort sat in his usual chair, stroking Nagini's head and pondering the future. He found himself doing this more and more these days.

Since his strange revelation the day before, he had taken it upon himself to read anything he could on Arthurian legends.

That had gotten him nowhere.

Some said Merlin had been a servant, some mentioned he was the court sorcerer. One said magic had been banned in Camelot, but others said it was a kingdom of magic and wonderment. Yet another legend mentioned Merlin being a close friend of King Arthur's, but others said the two had disliked each other and simply had a tactical relationship.

The only thing the legends agreed on was Merlin's immense power and Queen Guinevere's betrayal. Voldemort signed, it was almost comical to think the new professor at Hogwarts was Merlin and Dumbledore wouldn't know about it. The old fool did tend to find out things about people he shouldn't know.

Suddenly a loud bang sounded right outside the mansion. Voldemort jumped and Nagini hissed at the window of the library that faced the outside. A large tree had caught flame, most likely from a bolt of lightning.

The flames began to die down and a figure in the center of the charred remains of the tree became visible. In only moments the Dark Lord was outside in the storm with a wand in hand ready to kill the uninvited visitor, only to blanch at the aura that greeted him.

Power radiated from the unconscious woman and her pale skin had a gold undertone that pulsed with magic. Even though she had just destroyed a tree in a bolt of lightning, her intricate dress was spotless although the beautiful fabric was soaked through.

"My Lord!" yelled a voice from behind him as Bellatrix rushed up behind him with her wand arm raised, about to kill the strange woman.

"Control yourself Bella" he said coolly and she froze.

"My Lord?"

"Bring our visitor inside, I have a feeling she may be of use to us."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Harry smiled to himself as he watched a third year Hufflepuff finally disarm his partner. The boy had been struggling with the spell and Harry was glad to see him finally master it. It was strange; Harry had always seen himself as a fighter, an enforcer, of all that was good. It is what he had been groomed for since he was eleven years old, but watching his fellow classmates perform spells _he had taught them_ he started to rethink himself. Harry had always seen his future as Voldemort. He always imagined that if he got the chance he would try to go Pro in Quidditch, then retire young and let life take the wheel. Although in the world's current state it was likely Harry would never live to let life take control.

Suddenly drawn from his thoughts, Harry gave one his first genuine laughs the term had begun. Ron sat looking rather dazed slumped against a wall as Hermione smiled at him rather smugly. It seemed she had finally perfected her modified confundus charm. Ron stood up looking red cheeked and ruffled. Most of the DA had now turned to giggle quietly at the Weasley's misfortune.

"Lucky shot" he heard Ron mutter.

Hermione frowned at this, "expelliarmus!" Gripping Ron's wand in her left hand, she waved with her right, "wow! I must be having a really good day!"

Ron huffed and students laughed. Harry couldn't help but join them. The mirrored walls shown golden with light from the many candles adorning the room and reflected more happiness than any mirror had shown in Hogwarts in many years.

"Alright everyone..." Harry started before trailing off, "has anyone seen Cho?" Most the students shook their heads although one second year tentatively raised her hand.

"Amalia?" asked Harry.

"She got in trouble in charms today she and she had detention with Umbridge but that was hours ago so we all assumed she went back to her dorm" Amalia said in a strong voice that didn't match her tiny body. Harry's brow furrowed. If Cho had detention, he assumed she would tell him about it. Something was wrong.

"Okay everyone, let's pack up early tonight" he announced and continued after seeing their questioning looks, "I have a bad feeling about this."

Understanding, the older students began to grab their things and the younger ones followed suit.

Just as Harry was about to open the door and peer out into the normally abandoned hall he heard small whispers on the other side.

Seeing the terrified look on his face, his friends grabbed second and third years and hid them in the corridors that created themselves behind the many mirrors. As soon as the last mirror was closed, a small hole was blasted through the door and Harry stumbled backwards. Fourth years were positioned behind upperclassmen as two dozen students drew their wands.

Harry, Hermione, and Ron stood in front their other students and got away from the door just in time to avoid a large explosion that blasted a huge hole in the wall. Harry's heart was in his throat as the dust settled and Umbridge and Filch were revealed. A twisted smile formed on the evil woman's face as she scanned the faces of the students in front of her.

"I see we've found the conspirators" Flich rasped bearing his rotten teeth.

"I believe you should all follow me to my office" Umbridge commanded and many students cringed, knowing what was coming next.

"No" said Harry suddenly, bringing himself up to his full height. Ron and Hermione tensed on either side of him.

"I'm sorry what was that Mr. Potter?" Umbridge asked dangerously, her eyes narrowing as she gripped her wand.

"He said we're not going with you, you sadistic, evil woman" Hermione repeated. Some students muttered in agreement and aimed their wands.

"I'm sure that's not the smartest decision" Umbridge said, her face turning an impossible shade of red.

"I think it is" said Ron, "there's two of you and only one has magic and there's about twenty of us. I don't think anyone'd miss her." Some students chucked as Umbridge blanched as she looked at the many wizards in front of her.

Sensing the hostility around her, Hermione took a step forward, "we'll go with you..." the students behind her began to mutter angrily, "IF...you lay a hand on any of us I will personally deal with you. Like Ron said, I doubt anyone would miss you." Harry looked at his friend with silent appreciation. That situation had escalated much faster than he anticipated it would. Hopefully the second and first years had found their ways to safety in the tunnels by now.

The students followed Umbridge and stood in her magically expanded office. It was silent for a long time as Harry attempted to stare the woman down. 

"You all may go back to your rooms now. Mr. Potter I know you're the leader here so you will remain with me" Umbridge announced suddenly. Harry felt his friends about to protest but responded before they could, "okay." Ron looked at his best friend with indignation but Harry gave him a warning look that was very obvious, better he punished then them.

The students slowly filed out of the room and as soon as the last one was gone and the oak door closed, Umbridge gave Harry a sickly smile.

"Please place your wand here Mr. Potter" she said, gesturing to the table in front of her. Assuming his punishment would be slightly less severe if he cooperated, Harry obliged. As soon as his fingers left the thin wood rod, he found Umbridge's own wand at his throat.

"I don't take kindly to treachery Mr. Potter" she growled, eyes ablaze with fury. Harry flinched backwards as the tip of her wand suddenly burned the skin it touched. He felt his eyes grow wide; she was going to kill him. He was sure of it.

"You see Mr. Potter, you know as well as I that if you are not here to lead your merry band of misfits that they won't question me anymore" she whispered.

"I think you're underestimating how much they hate you" Harry answered defiantly.

"Well this will be rather cathartic anyways" she said as the wand began to burn him, although this time he had nowhere to escape.

"You're making a mistake" tried Harry.

"I don't think I am Mr. Po..."

She was cut off as the door burst open, revealing Ron, Hermione, and Professor Emrys.

"I suggest you remove your hands from him woman" Merlin said coldly, "may I remind you Professor, your ground in this school is shaky." Umbridge's wand was lowered from Harry's throat, "I would advise you to refrain from doing anything to worsen your current situation."

With a frustrated huff the pink clad woman strode away from the two, out of the room and down the hall. Ron and Hermione stood silently, unsure of what to do.

"I'll take Mr. Potter here to the Hospital Wing, you should return to the dormitories Mr. Weasley, Miss. Granger."

"T-thanks Professor" said Harry, rubbing his neck and eyeing Umbridge wearily as she walked away. He grabbed his wand from the table and vowed to never let it leave his hand again.

"Of course my boy, I can't help but feel as if this is all my fault" Merlin said, sighing.

"Well…" Harry started awkwardly, "Mione' got the idea after Dumbledore left and I think there was a comment a teacher made that…ah….inspired her."

Merlin shook his head, "I swear that witch is too clever for her own good." Harry smiled at this.

"I do suggest Mr. Potter, that until further notice you travel with friends or a teacher at all times. For now I may be able to keep you out of her grasp but I cannot promise anything. And I will be seeing you after classes on Fridays I'm sure."

Harry's form deflated a bit at his Professor's words.

"Oh c'mon my boy, you didn't think you'd escaped punishment completely did you?" Merlin said with a smile, "I do believe detentions with me will be slightly more preferable than anything Professor Umbridge could dish out." Harry laughed in agreement as Merlin escorted him to the Hospital Wing.

As soon as they reached the door Madam Pomphrey rushed over and took Harry from him. Signing, Merlin walked away and wearily returned to his room. The normally inviting room seemed somehow drab and foreboding at the moment. Merlin furrowed his brow in confusion as he scanned the room. His face grew slack suddenly as his roaming eyes rested on the wall to his left. The pendragon banner still hung on the wall, but the sword below it was missing.

"Excalibur!" he exclaimed, rushing over. His wards over the area remained intact as if the sword was still there, although he was sure it wasn't invisible.

Merlin collapsed on the plush chair that faced the wall, "how? How is this possible?"

His eyes wandered to the dozens of gory stills that lie on the table next to him. Hs groaned and placed his head in his hands. Arthur's sword was missing, students were being tortured, and at the moment Merlin felt as if he could do nothing to stop it. Merlin reached out with his magic and tried to locate the magic weapon.

Nothing.

The poor man sat in silence as his mind silently screamed. He couldn't handle the stress at the moment and gave up on trying. Walking to the other side of the room he grabbed a flask of dreamless sleep draught and downed the whole thing.

Collapsing into the chair, Merlin fell asleep almost instantly.

For a few hours his sleep was peacefully dark and his subconscious relished the nothingness; suddenly an image was painted in his mind. A figure in unmarked armor wandered around with Excalibur in their hand. They seemed to be in an impossibly dark forest, but every few feet or so a small beam of light would make its way through the foliage. Every time one appeared they would change direction to follow it. This went on for a long while before the forest began to thin out and more light began to shine though. Seeming confused, the figure stopped for a moment before deciding to walk forward.

This seemed to work for a while until the forest began to grow dark again and the figure turned around and tried another direction. This happened another four times before the exit was found. The figure ran to the exit before emerging out into a very familiar field. Suddenly, Merlin felt as though he was with the figure and in control of his body but as soon as he reached out the picture in his head was washed away. Merlin jolted awake and looked around the room. The position of the sun told him it was morning, although he saw no figure standing on the fields.

Groaning, Merlin slipped on an American Stanford sweatshirt and the bunny slippers he had bought a few months ago. He wandered down to the great hall when the complaints from his stomach became too much. Piling his plate high, he sat back in his chair and began to enjoy his wonderful breakfast.

"How did you sleep Ben?" asked Professor McGonagall politely.

"Rather badly actually" Merlin answered and glanced over to Umbridge's empty chair.

"I understand" answered McGonagall, "yesterday was rather...eventful."

"I'm not sure what to do at this point" added Merlin, his mind wandering back to the missing sword.

"Neither am I Ben" replied McGonagall, "I truly miss the days where my students were carefree and still...innocent."

Merlin nodded and the two sat in a comfortable silence for a few more moments before continuing to shove food into his mouth.

"You know Ben you remind me so much of Remus Lupin when he was still in school" McGonagall laughed and Merlin looked up at the old woman.

"Oh c'mon Remus is _much_ wiser than I could ever hope to be" Merlin laughed.

"Don't be so sure Ben, you're quite wise yours..." McGonagall was cut off as the door to the great hall banged open. 

Merlin's head shot to face the entrance and he shot to his feet instinctively. The figure in the door wore spotless armor and simply stood there for a few moments before removing their helmet.

In his soul Merlin already knew what was coming and took a few steps toward the figure as the helmet was removed.

Blonde hair was shaken out of a tan, handsome face as Merlin stared into fiery blue eyes that almost matched his own and a face he never thought he'd see again.

He was about to call his name, but the other man beat him to it, "Merlin?" Merlin's face broke into the widest smile it had ever housed as people in the hall broke into confused whispers.

"You're late Arthur" he said with shining eyes.

Before either man knew what was happening, they were embracing for the first time in one thousand years.

Arthur pulled away first and suddenly seemed to notice the hundreds of children staring at them.

"What the hell is going on Merlin?" he asked in a tone Merlin had grown to love.

"I knew it!" shouted Hermione suddenly, her eyes wide as the entire room turned to face her.

He knew he should say something, but at this point Merlin could only smile.

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 **I hope that was a satisfying reunion. I'm actually pretty happy with how this chapter turned out. Some of the parts seem a little rushed but I was so excited to write the end of this that I couldn't really help it. I hope you all like it and I'd love to know what you think! Thank you all so much for your support.**


	19. Who is Merlin

**Chapter 19**

 **So thank you for the feedback guys! I've decided to continue writing although updates may come a little (just a little I promise) sparser because I will slowly work on older chapters but I won't upload them until I finish the story itself so I hope that appeases most of you. I'm literally having so much trouble focusing right now because I just got the IOS 10 update and I literally cannot stop playing with it someone stop me. Just by the way I honestly didn't realize I left my story on a cliffhanger I was just so excited to upload I didn't even see it so I'm sorry I 'updated' without updating and got you all excited. (BTW 300 REVIEWS AND ALMOST 100,000 HITS HOLY SHIT GUYS THAT'S INSANE just so you know I've read every review I've ever gotten they mean a lot to me). It means so much to me when people tell me they binge read my story cause I do that all the time for other people and I don't know, to think my writing actually drew some of you guys in like that just means so much. Just as a side note I've extended the length of Arthur's cannon time as King. I know it wasn't long in the show but in my story he ruled for a little under a decade before dying. I'm sorry this was such a rambly intro, I hope you all enjoy this chapter!**

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Merlin couldn't stop smiling.

He had yet to process that his secret identity had been revealed to the entirety of Hogwarts as he looked at his best friend's face for the first time in a thousand years.

Arthur on the other hand wasn't as enticed with Merlin as Merlin was with him. He glanced around a room he had seen only a few days ago, yet everything was different. Thrones had been removed and replaced with five extremely long tables and the Camelot crest that had adorned the stone walls for his entire life was replaced with black banners with the word 'Hogwarts' printed on them.

"Merlin what's happening?" he asked again, as hundreds of people stared at him in complete shock. Merlin opened his mouth to answer him but closed it when he could not get any noise to come out. Arthur realized his heart was beating extremely fast, but he didn't think this room full of children could cause any harm to him.

A strange looking man at the high table stood suddenly and pointed a stick at him. Arthur pushed Merlin behind him and grabbed the hilt of his sword.

"Who are you and why are you here intruder?" the strangely slimy looking man announced in a condescending voice.

"Um..." Merlin tried, but was silenced when Arthur held up an iron clad hand.

"I could ask you the same thing, seeing as this is my home" Arthur said, his voice laced with venom. The man faltered for a moment as Arthur adopted his 'kingly' poster (as Merlin and Gwen had so lovingly dubbed it).

"Preposterous!" he announced, scoffing and straightening his back.

Arthur suddenly drew his sword ready to defend his home, as strange as it now was.

" _Stupify_!" yelled the man with a whip of the stick and a glowing beam of red light shot from the tip straight towards Arthur.

"Wha-?" Arthur managed before the beam of light was stopped by an almost invisible barrier that suddenly surrounded him.

Merlin snorted behind him, "that's not going to work!"

Arthur turned to his best friend, the back of his mind suddenly reminding him that Merlin had magic. For the first time in the many years he had known the other man, he feared him; strangely though he couldn't find it in himself to hate him. As much as he still believed magic was evil, he knew Merlin was incorruptibly good so by that logic Merlin was still a good person in his mind.

"Explain yourself Ben!" suddenly shouted an aged woman who Arthur remembered had been sitting next to Merlin when he had entered the room. The man who had originally cast the spell glared at the other woman, but let her speak.

"Who's Ben?" he muttered allowed and Merlin smiled at him sheepishly.

"There's a lot of things I need to tell you Arthur" Merlin said quietly, the ecstatic smile still plastered on his face. He walked up the aisle back to the head table, Arthur following behind him like a lost puppy.

"Minerva, I'm so sorry. There's much I haven't told you, but I do believe I have ample chance to do so now."

The woman, Minerva, glanced up at Arthur before sighing, "you haven't given me a reason to distrust you until now Merlin. I will convene a staff meeting and give you one chance to explain yourself." She turned to the hundreds of awestruck students that were looking at the man they thought was simply their teacher and his strange new companion.

"Merlin" Hermione whispered, face still red as the Gryffindor table continued to stare while they waited for an explanation for her sudden outburst.

"Classes for today are cancelled" McGonagall announced, glancing down again at Umbridge's still empty chair, "Prefects, Heads of Houses, please escort your houses back to your common rooms. For now, I ask that you cooperate with me, please."

Some students yelled in protest, but most got up and began to file out of the great hall; still in shock.

"I'll meet you all in the teacher's lounge in ten minutes" Merlin said, glancing at Arthur. McGonagall seemed to get the message and the Hogwarts staff filed out after the students.

"Merlin, please, tell me what's happening" Arthur said, cursing the desperation in his voice.

Merlin looked up at Arthur, "Sire, I..."

"I'm assuming you don't really need to call me that anymore" snorted Arthur as he followed Merlin out of the great hall. Merlin smiled, albeit rather sadly.

"There's so much I have to tell you Arthur" he started, "but for now, I believe you should probably catch up on your sleep." Arthur did admit he felt rather exhausted and followed Merlin without protest around the castle.

They walked for five more minutes before Merlin stopped so suddenly that Arthur almost ran into his back. Merlin looked back at the taller man and rolled his eyes with a small smile.

" _et ostium mihi"_ he chanted under his breath. A large wooden door suddenly appeared on the wall and Arthur gasped.

"How did you...is that my room?" he asked, his brow crinkling.

"Yeah" Merlin said simply and let Arthur walk past him into the familiar place. Arthur collapsed on the bed, still in full amour and fell asleep. Merlin rolled his eyes and they flashed gold; Arthur's amour flew off his body to the rack in a corner of the room.

"See you soon Arthur" he whispered, before closing the door which promptly disappeared behind him.

The walk back down to the staff lounge was a long one. Now that he knew Arthur was safe and sound his mind had time to wander into other, less productive areas of worry.

What if they thought he was insane? He wouldn't blame them; the fact that he was _the_ warlock Merlin would be a bit hard to swallow. Now he had to explain the whole business with Arthur, and the prophesy, and Albion too. In comparison his 'secret identity' seemed completely reasonable.

He reached the suddenly daunting oak door and deciding it was best to just get it over with he pushed it open and strode into the room.

The Hogwarts staff he had come to know and love were scattered around the room whispering, which ceased as soon as the saw Merlin. They looked at their former friend with fear and distrust in their eyes, something that hurt Merlin's very soul.

"Be...Merlin" started McGonagall, breaking the thick silence that had enveloped the room. Merlin looked at her with gratitude before taking a seat at the head of the table. "I believe you should explain yourself" she continued rather coldly, looking at Merlin with an expression she had never shown him before.

"I believe I should" Merlin said quietly, lowering his head, "I would like to start by apologising to all of you. None of you deserved to be deceived and I'm sorry I lied to you all, but you must know it wasn't without reason."

"Elaborate" said Snape simply, looking Merlin straight in the eye.

Merlin sighed, "I guess I'll start from the beginning. When I was born, magic was something one could learn, not something one had their entire life. The king of Camelot at the time, King Uther, had used the magic of the high priestess so his barren wife would conceive. Little did he know that to create a life one had to give up a life. Arthur was born but his birth took his mother from him. Uther was never able to handle the pain of losing the woman he loved so he focused his rage on magic. Anyone found practicing magic in Camelot was to be immediately executed; this was true in many of the kingdoms of Albion.

"I on the other hand was, uh, special. I was born with the innate gift of magic which was something that not even the Druids understood. I could never contain the magic inside of me, there was just too much of it. After the villagers grew tired of hiding me my mother sent me to live with the court physician of Camelot, a man named Gaius."

"Are you saying that any person, no matter who, used to be able to practice magic?" interrupted Professor Flitwick, looking at Merlin with extreme intrigue. Merlin simply nodded in reply. Although Merlin didn't realize it at the time, this simple confession would change the future forever.

"After I saved Arthur's life from a sorceress seeking revenge after Uther killed her son, I was appointed as Arthur's personal man servant by Uther himself" Merlin laughed slightly at seeing the shocked faces of the other staff, "I know quite the reward."

"We were always told Merlin was the great Warlock of Camelot's courts" said McGonagall incredulously.

"I was, for a while, but I spent my time with Arthur as his servant" Merlin said, shrugging. "Although I saved that prat's life so many times I probably should have been given a job specifically for that purpose. Anyways, I spent many years with Arthur and we became rather close. Uther was a close minded traditionalist and as hard as he had tried to instill those values into Arthur, it never truly worked. When I first met Arthur, he was a spoilt Prince who thought he was the center of the universe. The man who stands before us today is the Arthur I consider my brother in all but blood."

McGonagall had to admit she was rather touched at Merlin's little speech, "so unlike his father King Arthur accepted magic?"

Merlin laughed awkwardly, "well...not exactly." Seeing the confused looks on the faces of the people before him, he began to elaborate. "Arthur's mind began to open when he met a man named Lancelot, I'm sure you've all heard of him. The man was a brilliant knight although he was not of noble birth so under Uther's law he was unable to become a knight in Camelot. I helped him forge a certificate of noble birth and Arthur got to see how talented the man really was. Unfortunately, Uther eventually found out and Lancelot was banished until Arthur took the throne. Arthur may not have realized it at the time but seeing a man of peasant parents defeat him in a sword fight was a turning point in his life."

"I'm sorry to ask...Merlin...but why are you telling us this?" McGonagall questioned, "it doesn't seem to help clear your name at all."

"I feel as if you need to understand my past to understand my present Minerva. Don't worry I promise I won't ramble on for much longer. Anyways, Arthur fell in love with his foster sister's handmaiden Gwen, which caused an even larger rift between him and his father. Many years after my service with Arthur had begun, Uther died and Arthur took the throne. He didn't have the hatred that his father had held for magic but it had been ingrained into him that magic was utterly evil since birth. For the short time Arthur was king I watched him struggle with that internal conflict more than anything else during his reign. I became an confident of sorts to him and although it could never be official due to my status as servant; he joked that I was his top advisor. Peace lasted for a few years before the sorceress Morgana, an enemy of Camelot, eventually struck her final blow. She had been trying to steal the throne from the Pendragon family for over a decade and in a last ditch effort she threw everything she had at us. We stopped her, but at a great cost. Arthur was fatally wounded and the magic I had hidden from him for so long was finally revealed. At first he was disgusted with me and believed me a traitor, but as Queen Guinevere and I sat at his deathbed he forgave me which was more than I ever could have hoped for."

By the end of his tale, some of the more emotional staff members were looking at him with misty eyes.

"But now he has returned, so what will you do?" asked Snape, folding his hands on the table.

"I believe that Arthur is a bit too confused and exhausted to accurately assess his beliefs at the moment. I will talk to him and do what I can, but it may take some time for him to accept magic as it is today. Soon after Arthur died, Gwen realized she was pregnant with his son so Camelot was able to live under relative peace under her reign and the reign of her son. The surrounding kingdoms of Albion however grew bitter towards Camelot. Uther's reign of terror and the great purge had left fellow kingdoms with traces of his hatred that only intensified through generations. For another many years I helped the Pendragon family slowly withdraw magic from the land until the only one who knew my true identity was the King or Queen themselves. Four of the most powerful witches and wizards in the land and I joined together to create a place where those born with magic, something growing increasingly common in the magical community, could be safe from the outside world. So the five of us started by founding the Order of Merlin...Godric loved that bloody name..."

"Godric Gryffindor?" interrupted McGonagall suddenly, looking at Merlin incredulously, "the other four with you were the founders of Hogwarts? You helped found this school?"

"Yes...originally there were to be five houses but the legends of Merlin were already growing and I thought there was going to be too much of a bias. Salazar and I were too similar in too many beliefs anyways" Merlin explained with a shrug, "after a long time, with proper instruction and more, smaller schools popping up around Europe, an official ministry was formed and the first Minister of magic was chosen in 1707."

After Merlin had finished telling the most exciting history lesson any of the Hogwarts staff had ever heard, they simply stared at him in stunned silence. The man who they believed to be the youngest, most naïve teacher of them all had experienced more of the world than any human could ever hope to see.

"What made you come back?" McGonagall finally asked, her face still wearing an expression Merlin had never seen before; admiration.

"I am the last creature of the old religion left alive" Merlin said sadly, "it's the origin of magic and of all magical beings on this earth. Voldemort has done so much evil, committed so many horrors, that his magic is pulling at the very threads of the old religion itself.

"I...I can feel it hurting" Merlin finished, looking up at the others in the room with an almost pained expression. The staff sat still for another few moments before Professor Flitwick finally piped up.

"Seeing as that horrible Umbridge woman isn't here I believe we should do our best to keep this from her and the ministry for now. Who knows what they would do if they found out Merlin was among us once again."

The other teachers nodded at this. "I'm sure we can convince the students to keep quiet, at least for a while" Snape added, "you're the most liked teacher I've seen here in years Emr...Merlin. Most of them would be happy to keep your secret."

"That's very flattering Severus, but I don't trust some of the older Slytherins to keep this information from their parents. I know many are spies within the school for Voldemort. If he found they were keeping this from him, their entire families would most likely be murdered" Merlin countered, "but I also don't think that the wizarding world is ready for Merlin to return."

Other staff members nodded in agreement. Merlin continued to tell his stories well into the night and with each word that left his mouth his friends began to love and respect him a little bit more.

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"I brought some tea" said Parvati, quietly closing the common room door behind her. A chorus of thanks echoed through the room as students grabbed a cuppa from the tray the fifth year had smuggled from the kitchens.

"This is..." started Fred before trailing off, unable to find the right words. Even so, many of his fellow Gryffindors nodded in agreement. Most of the first, second, third, and fourth years had quickly retired to their dorms to theorize about their current situation in private while many upperclassmen stayed for the impromptu meeting happening in the Gryffindor common room at the moment.

On the large couch sat Harry surrounded by Hermione and Ron on each side. To their left Fred and George had claimed the first love seat while Ginny sat at her brothers' feet. Fred had joked that she wanted the company of her big, strong brothers before being silenced after George quietly commented that they probably needed her more than she needed them at the moment. Ginny found this exchange rather amusing. Dean and Seamus shared the armchair near the fire while the remainder of the Gryffindor house was perched in random places around the room.

"Who would've guessed it" muttered Dean, shaking his head.

"Hermione apparently" replied Harry giving his friend a pointed look. The bushy haired ginger blushed at this comment and lowered her eyes.

"Yeah, how the hell did you figure it out Hermione?" Lee Jordan piped in, leaning over the back of the sofa to look at the fifth year he never really talked to.

"Well" Hermione started uncomfortably, "it all started when Ron and Harry told me that Professor Emrys said he knew Matilda Peterson the potion master during her time at Hogwarts. But she was born around the turn of the century which means it was impossible for him to know her when she was still a student. I probably would have dropped the whole thing but the incident with his stone in Defense kept bothering me so I continued to search. A few weeks or so after that, I ran into Luna who told me she had overheard Merlin and the Grey Lady talking..."

"Who's the Grey Lady?" interrupted George putting his hands up in defense at the glares his fellow students shot him.

"The ghost of Rowena Ravenclaw's daughter apparently" Hermione clarified, snorting at the looks on her friend's faces, "but anyways Luna said the two talked as if they had known each other for centuries and mentioned something called the old religion..."

"The thing Emrys accidently called magic a few months ago?" asked Neville quietly, blushing as every person in the room turned to look at him.

"Blimey Neville how'd you remember that?" asked Ron in surprise. Neville simply shrugged at looked at Hermione with a pleading look for her to continue.

"Yeah I guess he did" laughed Hermione, "It took me a while but in one of the first editions of 'A History of Magic' I found it." Hermione motioned to an extremely old book in her bag.

"Read it" said Harry, looking extremely invested in the conversation.

Hermione flipped to her book mark and cleared her throat, _"The old religion is considered mythical by most in the magical community. It was said that many centuries ago magic was so ingrained in the earth that everything born of its fruits was a creature of the old religion. During this time magic was much darker, but could be learned by all humans. Only one human in known history was known to be a creature of the old religion: the great sorcerer Merlin. Although most of the information about the old religion is either mythical or incorrect, some theorists have used the little information we do know to create items such as the philosopher's stone and other extremely powerful magical objects."_

"How long did it take you to find that?" asked Lavender, eyes wide.

"Just a few hours. I theorized at first that he had some sort of sorcerer's stone. I told Dumbledore about it before he left and he told me that he thought something was up too. He said I had answered many of his questions and knowing Dumbledore he figured everything out then and there. He had to leave that night so I never got to ask more. A month or so after that I decided to do some more research. I found this book about theories on wizarding history" she motioned to an even thicker book in her bag, "and even though most of it was rather ridiculous I found this passage on Druids who were ancient magic users."

Seeing the waiting expressions on her classmates' faces she began to read, " _Although the most well-known Druids resided in England, the most dense population of the ancient wizards were located in Scotland. Most Druid prophecies and legends have been lost to the ages, but still a few remain. The most notable of which is the tale of Albion_. _This is better known as the tale of King Arthur and Merlin. The Druids predicted the birth of a powerful warlock a hundred years before the child was born. They knew that one day the King and his Sorcerer would one day create the land of Albion, a land of peace that encompasses all of Great Britain. Merlin, who's Druid name was Emrys, was to continue the quest even after King Arthur was killed."_

"How in the hell did you ever find that" asked Lee Jordan, looking more impressed than anyone had ever seen him.

"I like to read" she shrugged, causing Ron and Harry to burst out laughing.

"That's the biggest understatement I've ever heard!" Ron practically yelled. Hermione glared at him with a blush painting her cheeks.

"I'll admit Hermione we have to bow down to your startling intellect once again, but who didn't you tell anyone about this?" asked George.

"She probably didn't think she had enough proof" laughed Ginny, giving Hermione a knowing look.

"Well I mean the book was mostly speculation so though I was pretty convinced subconsciously, consciously I still needed more. I mean the thought that our teacher was Merlin himself was completely ridiculous" Hermione laughed uncomfortably.

"Can't blame you 'Mione" signed Ron, "I still don't believe it." The rest of the common room muttered in quiet agreement. The students sat in silence for a long time while each pondered how much their life would change.

"Blimey I'm hungry" groaned Fred suddenly, breaking the heavy silence.

"Really Fred?" sighed Ginny glaring at her brother, "it's only...oh."

Almost every person in the room glanced over to the giant grandfather clock on the left side of the room. It was somehow already mid afternoon and everyone's' stomachs began to grumble at the same.

Fred and George got up in tandem with Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

"We we're uh, gonna go get food" snorted George.

"Same here" replied Harry.

"Between the five of us we could probably smuggle enough for everyone" suggested Fred.

"Sounds good" Harry and Ron answered in unison.

Hermione gave a bark of laughter and shook her head, "you two are spending too much time around the twins."

"Let's tone down the bants" groaned Lee Jordan, "we're hungry."

"Alright, alright we're going" answered George with a wave of his hand.

Harry walked across the room to push open the door, but someone beat him too it.

Professor McGonagall stood in the doorway with eyes that shone in a way Harry had never seen before.

"I was here to bring you all some food, but it seems you almost beat me to it" she sighed, looking Harry up and down. After a moment the transfiguration professor stepped out of the doorway and half a dozen house elves poured in carrying platters filled with a variety of goodies.

"Tomorrow classes will resume normally" she announced before leaving, surprised that the normal groans she normally expected were absent from her ears.

It seemed the students wanted to interview their professor as much as she had.

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 **Sorry a little of Hermione's explanation was repeated I just wanted a little reminder of how she figured it out because it happened over quite a few chapters. So I'm pretty sure this is the longest chapter I've ever uploaded (although I can probably give some of that to my ridiculous ramble at the beginning of the chapter. I really do love my readers so I hope you enjoy this and have a great day!**


	20. Brothers

**Chapter 20**

 **Okay so I have to leave the announcement up for now because apparently you can't comment on a chapter twice so a bunch of you got frustrated that you couldn't leave another review. Sorry if you got a bunch of weird notifications the day I uploaded because I had to do it like three times to get the website to work. I'm also sorry it took me so long to get this chapter up, I had midterms and it was a really rough month. Any of you who are new to this story I normally don't wait this long to upload and I feel really bad for making you all wait so long in such an exciting part of the story.**

 **(PS I wrote the part of this chapter with Arthur and Merlin to the song Sun- Sleeping at Last and I think it goes really well with that part of the chapter so if you want the full experience go for it)**

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The dust had been cleared and possessions had been replaced. An armor rack sat still in the corner, in use for the first time in a thousand years. A bay room window was cracked slightly causing the faded red curtains to flutter delicately and the biting cold of winter to seep into the room. Despite this though, the air felt warm and the two men filling the space slept soundly with unconscious smiles. The slighter of the two sat sprawled across an elaborate arm chair looking more at peace than he ever had. It was this man that woke first, stretching and popping unhappy joints as his electric blue eyes squinted against the golden sunlight that streamed through the large window. He yawned and stood to close said window but was stopped by the other man.

"Keep it open Merlin" Arthur muttered sleepily, "the cold reminds me it's real." Merlin raised an eyebrow but kept the window as it was and turned to one of the many mirrors instead. He frowned at the untamable mess on his head at set to work trying to fix it.

"You know Merlin; in one thousand years you'd think you'd be able to find a way to fix that mop of yours" Arthur commented with a signature smug smirk.

Merlin rolled his eyes, "and you'd think a thousand-year nap might improve your attitude a little, I guess some things are impossible."

Arthur threw a pillow across the room and his friends who easily dodged the feather filled projectile. The two made eye contact and burst out laughing.

"I guess some things never change" Merlin sighed with eyes that sparkled with joy.

"I wouldn't know" Arthur sighed, running a hand through his messy blonde hair. Merlin flinched ever so slightly, but it did not escape Arthur's field of vision.

"I do promise that we will sit down and I will explain everything; I'll tell you everything. But for now I might have to stop the entire wizarding world from destroying itself" Merlin sighed.

"You keep telling me that but at this point the 'I'm busy excuse' has started to lose a bit of its charm" joked Arthur, but Merlin could see the lost expression behind his eyes.

Merlin stopped in his tracks and looked Arthur dead in the eye, "I really am sorry Arthur and I will tell you everything you want to know. _Everything._ But for now I really do need to get to class."

He could tell Arthur was anything but sated; instead of arguing though, he simply nodded and turned away from Merlin. He felt guilty, but there was nothing to be done at the moment; there was somewhere he had to be.

Despite this Merlin quickly strode across the room and enveloped his best friend in the first hug he had given him since his rather unexpected return. Arthur's eyes widened slightly as he was sure he could count the number of intimate moments he had shared with Merlin on one hand, but embraced the slightly embarrassed warlock back anyways. A vocal communication was still rather lacking between the two, as it had been for a millennium but the connection had not faded; it was not lost.

After a moment, Merlin straightened himself up, gave Arthur a quick nod, and left the room. Arthur smiled faintly as he watched Merlin dart from the golden light enveloping his room.

Nothing had changed.

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Ever since his true identity was revealed two days ago, he had done his best to avoid the student population. He spent most of his time in meetings with the staff (not including Umbridge) or badly avoiding Arthur. He knew there was much to tell him and although they had exchanged a few stories, there was still much to share. Last night was the longest time the two had spent together and Merlin had tactfully avoided the subject of the future by reminiscing, something Arthur was strangely happy to do. Surprisingly, it seemed that no one had gotten around to telling Umbridge or the wizarding world of his identity yet. He knew he was well liked among the students, but secrets as big as his were never kept. Merlin's best guess was someone was intercepting their letters, but that still seemed a bit improbable.

He had agreed with McGonagall that the students should be left to make their own decisions. He knew that the younger children would most likely keep his secret if asked, at least until summer. It was the older ones he worried about. Many had come to knock on his door in the past 48 hours, but he had done his best to avoid them.

That was over now.

He had agreed to continue teaching his classes as long as he could, if the students would let him. He had argued that many of the younger students saw 'Merlin' as muggles saw God: an all-powerful mythical figure that was made of the universe, not of flesh and blood. Minerva had told him to stop being a coward and teach the students he had spent the last four months getting to know.

Today things were supposed to return to normal, but Merlin highly doubted that would happen. He hadn't even bothered to prepare a class schedule as he knew the students would demand answers and if nothing else he owed them that. As he entered his classroom, it felt strange to see such normalcy. It seemed as if something seeming so routine and comforting didn't belong in his life anymore. His days spent teaching the students of Hogwarts felt like a lifetime ago; he would know he had experienced many.

Merlin took a deep breath before walking across the room to stand behind a bookshelf. If he was going to explain this he was going to do it right.

Within the next twenty minutes his first class of the day had arrived and not a soul was missing; not that Merlin was surprised. The fifth year Slytherins and Gryffindors all took the seats and began intense conversations with one and other, waiting for their teacher to arrive.

"...couldn't wait, we deserve some bloody answers" Ron was muttering loudly to the other Gryffindors. Most nodded in agreement but Hermione only shook her head.

"I still trust Professor Em...Merl...I still trust him" she said stubbornly, "he's given us no reason not to."

"Yeah other than lying about his identity and the fact that his presence here puts us all in danger, his track record's clean" muttered Harry, drawing some snickers from his friends.

Merlin took a deep breath before emerging from behind his bookcases. Silence swept the room and Merlin smiled uncomfortably.

"Uh, hello class" he said, wringing his hands. He expected them to say something, anything, but every soul stayed silent. It seemed that every student was analyzing their teacher, trying to find some detail that was different. They found nothing. Although Merlin could see they were just as uncomfortable around him as he was with them.

"I'm, ah, sure you all have questions..." Merlin started, hoisting himself up so he was sitting on his desk top.

"That's an understatement" muttered Draco, but his quip lacked its usual malice.

"...and I owe you all answers" Merlin continued, barely sparing the Slytherin a glance, "so ask away."

A dozen voices broke through at once, before Merlin smiled and raised his hand, "one at a time please."

"Why did you lie?" Pansy Parkinson piped up, crossing her arms.

"Straight to the point I see?" Merlin said with a well-meaning smile, "I'm assuming you're asking about who I am?" She nodded.

"Well, I figured if the wizarding world realized I was teaching at Hogwarts it would put you all in more danger than you're already in."

"Then why come here in the first place?" asked Ron.

"To...ah...protect you" Merlin answered sheepishly rubbing the back of his head at the lack of a better answer.

"From what?" asked Dean

"Voldemort I'm guessing" said Hermione, her eyes calculating.

A few students rolled their eyes, but none replied.

"Ms. Granger is right" sighed Merlin, drawing some surprised looks.

"But he's dead" whispered Lavender Brown.

"I wish that were true" Merlin said simply.

"How did you know he was back?" asked Harry quietly, looking Merlin in the eye.

"Ah yes well this is where things get a bit complicated" Merlin joked, coughing awkwardly. "You see back in the old days people used to draw power from something called the 'old religion'..."

"You've mentioned that before" noted Hermione.

"Ah, yes one of my many slip ups" Merlin smiled, "but almost anyone could draw power from the old religion, not specific people. Some were better at it than others, but anyone could practice magic that wanted to. As time went on certain families continued to practice magic like it was a tradition, but most were never exposed to the old religion. After repeated generations of people cut off from the old religion, their bodies ceased to be able to access it at all while the few families that had continued to practice magic found ways to hone their craft leading to the magic you see today."

"But then why do muggle-borns exist? If magical evolution was due to ancestral practice, how does someone from a true muggle lineage suddenly have magic?" asked Draco, looking surprisingly interested. Some of the other Slytherins turned to look at him incredulously and he shrugged uncomfortably, "I like history and this is obviously accurate so..." Most of the Slytherins accepted his explanation, but the confusion in the air did not dissipate.

Merlin simply smiled, "that's an excellent question Mr. Malfoy. To be completely honest I'm not entirely certain why muggle-borns exist. My best theory has to do with the muggle concept of evolution, do any of you know what that is?"

Hermione's hand shot into the air, "it is the gradual development of something, especially from a simple to a more complex form."

Merlin nodded, "exactly. I believe that due to the small amount of families that actually continued to practice magic the old religion was dying off. You can only keep a dozen families alive for so long if they can, or are only willing to, breed within that circle, which explains why all pureblood wizards are so, uh, complexly related." Some of the students snickered at that. "So while a few more rebellious pure bloods started magical families with muggles, other muggles suddenly found themselves with magical children. The old religion had reignited the spark that lie dormant inside them for generations in order to survive. The magical gift is most likely a dominant trait, which means when wizards and witches have children, only one parents needs to be magical to pass that gene onto their children which means those muggle born wizards could make more magical children no matter who with."

"That's fascinating" said Hermione, almost entranced in the lecture. Merlin noticed that most of his students were also rather involved in his lecture. They were some of the first to hear about magical genealogy in a long time; maybe he should have taught a class on that instead.

"Why isn't this really public information?" asked one of the Slytherins.

"I feel like this could do a lot to undermine the pureblood ideology" mentioned Ron absentmindedly, turning red when some of his classmates gave him incredulous looks.

"Well, not much is known about the old religion to wizards today. Those who do know anything are purebloods who heard about it from old family tales which aren't always credible" Merlin answered.

"You should write a book Professor" commented Dean from the back of the class.

"I should probably write a lot of books" Merlin answered with a small smile.

"I'll admit this is fascinating, but you never really answered my question Professor" said Harry, "how did you know Voldemort was back?" Some students squirmed at the mention of the dark lord's name, but most looked at their teacher curiously.

"Ah yes, I almost forgot. Because I am a creature of the old religion, the first human to be born with ingrained magic instead of having to learn it, I have a special connection with it. I can feel...the fabric of it I guess. With all that Voldemort has done to escape death, he has damaged some of the fabric, hurt the old religion. It's hard for me _not_ to feel everything he does" Merlin said, unconsciously wincing.

"I can relate" he heard Harry mutter quietly while he absentmindedly rubbed his scar.

"Is the old religion alive?" asked Neville, "y-you said it could hurt."

Merlin nodded, "in a way it is. I guess the best way to think of it would to be to imagine the muggle God. It created the universe and everything in it, kind of woven everything together like a tapestry with strings made of magic, so in a way we are all a product of it . But all that has been done by that evil man has defied the laws of nature and messed with the natural order of the universe. Humans have created things that the old religion never meant to be created. They have unwoven parts of the tapestry and woven it back together to fit their own agenda. There is natural order to things, if one lives, another must die and so on. Somehow Voldemort has messed with this order, which if I'm being completely honest endangers his magic and the magic of every creature in the universe. If you unravel one part of a tapestry it is difficult to stop the whole thing from coming apart."

"Bloody hell" Ron muttered, rubbing his temples.

Merlin continued on for another half an hour answering questions, which had shifted mostly to his personal life before he was _the_ Merlin. All were surprised when the bell rang, signaling the period had ended.

Students slowly stood up and exited the classroom and Merlin was about to prepare for his next period of questions when he noticed one student remained in the room.

"Mr. Malfoy, is there something I can do for you?" he asked kindly.

"I just..." he started before stopping awkwardly.

"Is this about your family?" Merlin asked quietly.

Draco looked up at him in surprise before nodding slowly, "I...don't know what to do. I want to blame you. I really do, but I just can't."

"Do you want to tell me what happened?" Merlin asked quietly, looking at the young Slytherin with kind eyes.

"Maybe..." Draco shrugged, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"Well if you Mr. Malfoy, come by my office around eight tonight and we can discuss this in private over tea" Merlin said with a kind smile, "I know what it's like to turn against the beliefs of those around you." Merlin felt like dancing for the gods, it seemed he had finally reached the boy.

Draco looked at the teacher for a moment, examining his face. Somehow the man had figured him out more in the past few months than anyone else had in five years. It unnerved him, but he still felt drawn to the warlock. Sighing, Draco nodded and walked from the room. He wasn't sure what else to do in Merlin's presence; he had to admit even he was a bit nervous around the all-powerful man.

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Merlin pushed his way through his next classes. They all seemed to mirror one another, as he answered mostly the same questions over and over again. The younger students seemed more interested to learn more about him as a person due to the fact that a legend was standing in front of them. The older students however wanted to know more about all he knew. The Ravenclaws wanted to know the different things he had learned from spending time with magical clans that had been isolated from the world for centuries and what the textbooks got wrong. The Hufflepuffs wanted to know who he had met, what he had learned, what it was like to live for a thousand years. He indulged all of them, opening his heart about how freeing it was to feel so connected to the earth yet how lonely eternal life was. Voldemort was not a topic raised again.

He decided it would be best to skip dinner as Arthur was most likely feeling very irritated and lonely cooped up in his bedroom all day. He needed a break from all the questions anyways.

Unknown to him, the entirety of Hogwarts was having an impromptu meeting concerning the great warlock himself in the great hall.

Fred and George had 'accidentally' locked Umbridge in her office for the time being, so her chair at the head of the staff table was mysteriously empty; not that anyone was complaining.

McGonagall waited until her students had finished their meals and worn out their gossip. She had learned over the years that any student would be more agreeable on a full stomach and lacking others to talk about. Taking a breath, she stood and waited for the students to cease their chatter. Soon the hall stood silent as both staff and students watched her, some curiously and some tediously.

"I would like to acknowledge how proud of you all we are. I believe it reflects the maturity of this school, as you were presented with an immense change and took it in a stride. Now, I know the secret each and every one of you hold is immense and confusing and many of you may wish to tell your parents or the ministry about it. Although we cannot stop any of you, we highly discourage you doing so. Now you all must know we will not be reading letters or invading privacy but we will ask that for the time being that this secret stays within the school. Now, you may go back to your meal time activities." She took a seat and exchanged looks with some other staffers.

McGonagall knew asking the students to keep this secret was a long shot, but she had to hope they had grown to love the teacher enough to show him this respect.

Harry shot Ron and Hermione a look. He was sure his friends would have no problems keeping their mouths shut, but he was a little worried about the other houses. He knew some Hufflepuffs who would have issues lying to so many people and Ravenclaws that would have trouble keeping such a breakthrough in magical knowledge within castle walls. Surprisingly he wasn't too caught up on the Slytherin house. They protected their own, and now knowing Merlin was one of them he doubted most of them would have any issue keeping their mouths shut.

"What are they going to do about Umbridge?" Ron asked quietly, looking up at her empty chair at the head table.

"I have no clue, I'm sure there's some plan" said Hermione, without much conviction.

"Well one thing's for sure" Harry stated, drawing the attention of most of the Gryffindors at the table, "as soon as Voldemort figures this out Hogwarts isn't going to be anywhere near safe anymore."

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 **So I hope you guys really enjoyed this chapter. We're about halfway through the story so far, unless I make some major changes to the plot (which is probably a 50/50 chance). That's all for now, I really hope all of you in America have a lovely Thanksgiving.**

 **(PS I am casually drinking wine from a mug rn so?)**


	21. Her

**Chapter 21**

 **I honestly don't think I thank you guys enough for how you have supported me over the past year or so. The fact that this story has almost 400 reviews, almost 800 followers, and over 116,000 hits means so much to me and I never thought this would do as well as it has. I know it might seem like I'm bragging a little (I mean I kinda am I'm really proud) but thank you all. I wouldn't have anything to write if there was no one to read it. Btw I have no idea who the heads of houses were during this year so I'm just making it up. Just roll with it. I'm also sorry this chapter is a little shorter, I have finals tomorrow but I wanted to get something up for you guys. I mean writing fanfiction is a great way to study for AP English right?**

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Umbridge had finally broken the curse on her pastel pink door and had spent the few hours after dinner wandering the halls and staring down students and staff alike. Little did she know that just below her feet, one floor below, a secret meeting was taking place; a meeting she would love nothing more than to be privy to.

Anthony Otterburn, Head boy, wrung his hands rather nervously as he waited in a dark and cold classroom. Waving his wand, the few candles placed haphazardly around the dusty and unused room lit and reflected a dim light of the damp stone walls.

"Otterburn" muttered a voice from across the room, he turned quickly to find Gerald Vickers leaning against the door frame and smirking as he watched his friend jump a foot in the air as he called his name.

"Damn it Gerald, don't do that to me" Anthony sighed, glaring at the Ravenclaw prefect.

"Where's Davis?" Gerald asked, giving the room a rather disgusted look.

"No clue mate, I was the first one here" Anthony shrugged, "in fact it seems I was the _only_ one here on time."

Gerald rolled his eyes and shoved his friend's shoulder.

"Woah!" exclaimed Anthony as he stumbled and lost his footing on the damp stone floor and started to fall, only to freeze half way down.

"I swear..." muttered Tracey Davis, wand in hand, brushing a speck of dust of her impeccable Slytherin robes and straightening her 'Head Girl' badge.

"Aw c'mon Davis, they were just messing around" sighed Raza Mohammad, crossing her tanned arms, the maroon prefect badge on her robes almost blending in with their rich red tone.

"Hey Raza" smiled Anthony, with a ruffle of his chocolate brown hair.

"Ugh" muttered Tracy, letting Anthony fall to the floor.

"Hey!" protested Anthony, looking at the now brown Hufflepuff insignia embroidered on his robes.

"Watching you to flirt is gross" she shrugged as Raza turned pink.

"We are not here for this" muttered Gerald, pinching his brow.

"Yeah" said Raza, suddenly serious, "Anthony why are we here? Don't we have to deal with one and other enough in the prefect meetings?" She sent a pointed glance in Tracy's direction which was answered with a look of thinly veiled disgust.

"Well, considering Davis and I are the Head Boy and Girl and you and Gerald are prefects in your houses, I thought that it would be up to us to keep said houses in check" Anthony answered, his blue eyes taking on a serious air that did not fit with his normal lopsided grin.

"Merlin" stated Tracy.

Anthony nodded.

"If we do want to try to keep his secret for the time being" he unconsciously glanced towards Tracy, "then we have to use our position to make sure our houses follow through with Headmistress McGonagall's promise to him."

"Don't worry about the Gryffindors" shrugged Raza, " the older students will probably follow the prefects lead and the younger kids will just watch what Potter does."

"The Ravenclaws have already agreed that from a tactical standpoint, it is better to let Merlin forge his own image in the world today."

"And the Hufflepuffs aren't a problem" finished Anthony, "what about you Tracy?"

Tracy crossed her arms looking rather ruffled at being singled out, "he's a Slytherin. We take care of our own."

The other three houses nodded, if Slytherins had anything, it was loyalty to Slytherin.

"So we're agreed" said Gerald, nodding at the other three.

"Agreed" the three nodded back, making the first four house pact in almost one hundred years.

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"Mr. Malfoy, good to see you" Merlin looked up from the book he was reading at the Slytherin who had just entered his office.

"Hullo" muttered Draco, obviously uncomfortable.

"I'm glad you came to see me Mr. Malfoy" Merlin reassured, giving the boy his most innocent smile.

"I'm not really sure why I came Professor...uh..." Draco tried, rubbing the back of his head.

"Just call me Merlin for now, or Ben if that's what you're more comfortable with" Merlin said, folding his hands on his desk, "and to be frank Mr. Malfoy you know perfectly well why you're here."

Draco sighed and took a careful seat across from his professor, "I guess you're right, and just call me Draco, Mr. Malfoy always sounds wrong."

Merlin smiled, "let me guess, 'Mr. Malfoy was my father'" he imitated Draco.

Draco gave him a strange look, "well, yes I mean obviously?"

Merlin held back a snort as the muggle joke went right over the young Malfoy's head, "well Draco, you came to me to confide so start confiding whenever you feel like it."

Draco shifted a bit, his face stiffening, "you promise this is just between us? You won't tell anyone?"

Merlin gave his student a very serious look, "Draco I swear this is strictly between us."

The young Slytherin scanned his professor's face before beginning his tale, "It's no secret that my father was an underling of The Dark Lord."

"I believe the official report was 'he made me do it?'" interjected Merlin.

Draco snorted, "yes I do believe that is the official excuse. But it's a lie, just like everything else my father does."

"What do you mean Draco?" Merlin asked, trying to look as invested as possible.

"Well I hope this doesn't come as a surprise to you Merlin, but he is still serving that man to this day, most likely at this very moment" Draco said in a tone barely above a whisper. The moment the words left his mouth he felt the weight of a secret he had held his entire life lift from his shoulders, only to be replaced with the most intense guilt he had ever felt in his life.

Merlin watched as Draco physically drooped as the guilt from his confession settled upon him, "well, I can't say I'm surprised Draco, but truly I am sorry."

This got Draco's attention, "why would you feel sorry?"

"No child deserves to grow up carrying that burden" Merlin answered, deciding on a tactic. If only he could get Draco to place some of the blame on family instead of himself than maybe he could heal the boy a little before the true betrayal hit him.

"Maybe...but I didn't come here for pity" Draco replied, looking Merlin in the eye.

"I thought you came to talk about your family?" Merlin wondered.

"In a way" Draco said with a wave of his hand, "but it's what they're trying to make me do that...that...I needed to..."

Merlin had never seen the suave Slytherin so tongue tied in his life, "Draco, what have they gotten you into?"

Taking on an air that seemed much too old for the fifteen-year-old, Draco leaned forward and mirrored Merlin by folding his hands on the desk, "They want me to join him." Pausing and not seeing the shock he expected on the teacher's face he continued, "The ceremony was supposed to be mid-June."

"Next June?" Merlin asked, feeling as if someone had poured an icy bucket of water over his head.

Draco nodded and took another deep breath, "my father has disappointed the Dark Lord consistently for the past decade and a half. He refused to swear his loyalty once he vanished and has not quite lived up to expectation since his return. I am my father's punishment."

"So you are being forced to become a death eater?" Merlin asked, horror evident in his voice.

"I didn't really view it that way until a few months ago. When...you showed up actually" Draco explained resting his head in one of his hands, "I've never really questioned the beliefs I had been taught. My parents required unwavering loyalty from me and not much else, if they asked something of me I had to carry out their request without hesitation. So, when my father asked me to finally become a death eater I agreed without a second thought. When I was younger this was all I ever wanted, but now..."

Merlin watched the boy's facial muscles twitch as he tried to keep his expression neutral, "now you're scared" he finished for his student.

"Malfoy's don't get sc..." Draco started defensively before closing his eyes and sighing, "yes, I'm scared."

"What does Voldemort want with you? You're still a child Draco" Merlin asked, tilting his head slightly.

"He wants a spy. Someone he can trust and Dumbledore would never expect" Draco explained robotically as if quoting someone else, "although I believe I've ruined that plan now."

Merlin leaned forward and took the boy's hand in his comfortingly, "Draco none of this is your fault. Absolutely none of it, and I must let you know that you are one of the bravest people I have ever met in all my years." Draco snorted at this but Merlin continued, "No I swear you are. Not many have the courage to stand up to their family, betray all the hate they have been fed since birth, and all without a support net; especially a Slytherin."

Draco looked up at the man in front of him, surprise filling his face, "t-thanks."

"Now that you've told me this, what do you want to do Draco? It's obvious that you don't want to follow in your father's footsteps and I don't want you to either" Merlin said, "how do you want me to help."

"Uh...well in the past few months I've been learning more and more about the inner circles secrets because my father has been more trusting with information, but after my outburst about a month ago, I doubt he'll tell me anything ever again" Draco shrugged, struggling to keep his voice impassive.

"You told him you didn't want to be a death eater?"

"In a way, but he did tell me quite a bit before I broke his trust though" Draco explained.

"Okay Draco, tell me what you think is most important" Merlin said kindly.

"I know that the Dark Lord's base is somewhere in a small Russian town and that he's been talking about a secret weapon as of late, but he's not being very specific even with his most trusted advisors" Draco muttered, trying to remember everything his father had told him, "My father mentioned seeing a strange woman around the mansion but he didn't recognize her at all."

Merlin felt as if someone had dropped a stone into his stomach and the blood drained from his already pale face, "did he tell you what this woman looked like?"

Draco studied his teacher wearily, "a bit. He said she was very beautiful and young, maybe in her late twenties."

"With eyes like a storm at sea" Merlin muttered to himself, looking very unnerved.

"Yes? A bit like that" Draco answered, growing more nervous by the moment, "do you know who she is Merlin?"

"If I'm not mistaken she is an old enemy of mine, the witch who killed Arthur a millennia ago" Merlin said with a shaking voice.

"Who...who is she?" Draco asked, eyes wide.

"Morgana."

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 **I always felt there was a serious lack of caring for their students by the adults at Hogwarts so here's like 3/4 of a chapter dedicated to Merlin being a responsible and supportive adult. I also kinda forgot I brought Morgana back for a hot second so...oops. I hope you all enjoy the chapter and wish me luck on my first finals tomorrow!**


	22. How the World has Changed

**Chapter 22**

 **Hey guys so here's another chapter. I'm gonna try to get one more up in the next week or so because I'm on break so I have all this time and I really don't know what to do with it. Btw just thought I'd mention that I've never laughed harder then when I saw someone had commented on this story and I was super excited to read it and it was like the most incomprehensible anon message asking for lemon. I love you anon, that was hilarious and I hope you're living your best life; just thought I'd share.**

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Merlin closed the heavy door softly behind him as he eyed the sleeping form on the large bed pushed against the wall. He slowly slipped his shoes off and placed them into a corner of the room before stretching and gathering some of the books he had left in Arthur's room for him to read. Again, he glanced towards the sleeping lump on the red bedspread before rolling his eyes and grabbing the thick wool blanket he had used on the chair the night before and draping it over the King's sleeping form.

Merlin grabbed his overcoat from the dark oak table pushed haphazardly into the corner and swung it over his shoulders before grabbing his good winter boots and leaving Arthur to sleep in peace. It was only then that he realized that him and Arthur were basically living together at this point and he still hadn't told him anything about the modern world. A pang of guilt hit Merlin square in the chest as he glanced back at the stone wall that hid the king.

Taking a deep breath, he tore his eyes away and rushed down the empty halls of the castle back to his official quarters. As he entered the room, his eyes wandered to the now empty display case that once held Excalibur above the still roaring fire lighting the space. A very thin layer of dust coated the entire room from disuse. Merlin purposefully strode across the room and grabbed a handful of green powder, he quickly placed his armful of books on a small table before stepping into the fire.

"Number Twelve Grimmauld Place" he announced, disappearing with a small pop into the emerald green flames.

As soon as he stepped out of the fire he was greeted by seven pairs of eyes looking his way.

"Hullo Ben...or uh..." greeted Sirius immediately before catching himself.

Merlin smiled and shrugged, "Ben is fine, I don't really care what you choose to call me."

"Alright then" said Sirius crossing his arms awkwardly.

"Minerva filled us all in on the situation" explained Molly Weasley, motioning to the seat next to her. Merlin smiled at her before removing his jacket and taking the seat offered.

"Even if you know the official story, I'm sure you still have questions?" Merlin asked, rubbing his hands together rather nervously. Everyone nodded and Merlin attempted his most reassuring smile, "please, ask away."

Molly gave him a rather uncertain look, "are you sure Dear? I know all you must have been doing over the past few days is answer questions."

Merlin gave a warm smile to the kind woman, despite now knowing who he was she still treated with the same unabashed kindness, "It's fine, you deserve answers."

"I'll go first then" announced Tonks, "I guess this rather personal, but what is your relationship with Arthur like? I've always wondered as that seems to be the only think every single magical historian disagrees on."

"Hm, I guess I should start from the beginning" Merlin said, suddenly lost in memories, "I met him when I first arrived in Camelot. He was the crowned Prince of one of the most powerful kingdoms in the region and was very aware of it. Long story short when I first saw him he was acting like an absolute clodpole. But after I saved his life from a witch trying to kill him as repentance for Uther, Arthur's father, killing her son I was appointed as Arthur's manservant.

"Eventually I learned that Arthur and I were meant to unite the lands of Albion together from a frustratingly cryptic dragon and we spent the years together. We became friends; brothers even. I probably had to save his royal ass at least once a week but...even though Prince Arthur was a stubborn prick, unaware of his privilege, and unfit to lead; King Arthur is a man I would gladly give my life for."

"So...close then" laughed Tonks and Merlin smiled at her.

"So we can trust him?" asked Arthur Weasley, folding his hands on the table.

"As much as you can trust me" Merlin answered, seemingly sateing the man.

"As curious as I am about you Merlin, I have to know, what is being done about that woman?" Arthur continued, furrowing his brow, "we can't just let her get away with _torturing_ our children."

Merlin nodded, "I agree we need to put the needs of the students first, but she has been granted complete immunity under the Ministry and I have no idea what to do within the confines of Magical Bureaucracy."

"Does she have any allies within the school, any idea who you are?" asked Molly.

"No" Merlin and Minerva answered at the same time.

"So her grip there is weak" concluded Remus, "I believe that instead of directly trying to expel her from Hogwarts we should speak to Minister Fudge about this. The man is paranoid enough that Hogwarts is plotting to overthrow him without us _actually_ overthrowing his representative in the school. I believe that if one of us meets with him first and tells him it may end in our favor. Fudge may be paranoid and self serving, but he is not evil. I doubt he knows about how she is punishing the students."

Everyone in the room nodded at Remus's diplomatic solution, "who shall we choose to send then?" asked Minerva, "I believe it would be best to send someone on the Hogwarts staff but...the Minister would never trust me, Albus and I are too close."

"I agree that having the information come from someone on the Hogwarts staff would make the source of it seem more reliable, but what makes us believe that Fudge won't come to the conclusion that Albus secretly sent them to get rid of Umbridge?" asked Arthur Weasley, brow furrowed.

"The man's crazy, I doubt there's any one of us we could send that he would completely trust" sighed Sirius.

"Maybe if we sent Severus?" asked Merlin, getting a few surprised looks; one from Severus himself.

"Well I mean he's most likely to trust someone from Slytherin and not to be rude Severus but you're not known for your compassion. If you went in with a complaint about her treatment of the students it might be taken more seriously" Merlin explained.

"Yes but I am also a head of house and one of Albus's closest confidents" Severus said, in a monotone voice.

"Ah, yes well there's always that" Merlin winced.

"What about you B... Merlin?" asked Molly.

"Me? Why me?" asked Merlin, eyes wide with surprise.

"Well dear, you were the first of us to get proof of Umbridge's actions and didn't you mention that Blaise Zabini gave you a list of students who had served detention under Umbridge? And I won't be the first to mention that you are the more diplomatic of us"

"You may be right, although I believe Remus is our most diplomatic member" Merlin conceded and the werewolf blushed slightly.

"And despite your position as staff, you've only been there for a semester or so which could make your loyalty to the school questionable in some people's eyes" added Remus.

"And you only spent three or four months under Dumbledore so in Fudge's eyes you probably don't know him all that well" chimed in Sirius.

"You're also a Slytherin" said Snape, giving the other teacher a unidentifiable look.

"Well if you put it that way I guess I am the best option" laughed Merlin, leaning back in his chair.

"I can ask Fudge's secretary to try to set up a meeting with a Hogwarts teacher regarding information he knows" suggested Arthur, "I'm sure that will peak his interests."

Merlin smiled, "Thank you Arthur, I'll do my best to prepare some notes and evidence."

"Now that we have that smoothed over I believe we should all go get some sleep. We have a long weekend ahead of us" said Minerva, organizing the stack of paper she had been writing on.

The other six people in the room agreed and each member of the order present at the moment began to gather their things and head home.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXx

When Merlin finally stepped out of his fireplace at Hogwarts it was well past two in the morning. The logs lie just golden pieces of charcoal barely illuminating the surrounding room. Merlin blinked a few times in attempt to wake up his eyes before turning to examine his extensive book shelves. After a moment or so he grabbed a folded worn piece of paper and a rather thick but modern book and tucked them up under his arm. The warlock yawned once before he went on his way back to the hidden room.

He climbed the six sets of stairs, going up and up into the west tower where the King was hidden. Once he reached the wall, made of bricks that seemed to be nothing more than bricks, did he stop.

" _Apertus_ " Merlin gasped, out of breath after running up so many stairs and too nervous to attempt mental magic without running the risk of blowing the entire tower to smithereens. He adjusted the materials under his arm and decided that tonight was not a night for worrying his best friend with an upcoming war, but amazing him with how the world had changed.

"Merlin" Arthur sighed as his friend walked into the room. Said friend jumped high into the air in surprise.

Arthur laughed despite his annoyance, "some things never change."

"You're awake" Merlin rolled his eyes at Arthur.

"Well seeing as I've had not much to do but sleep in the past few days, my sleeping patterns have become rather irregular" Arthur answered, crossing his arms.

"I'm sorry Arthur" Merlin answered quietly, looking down.

"I know that I'm not important in this time and it's been a couple hundred years since I was part of your life Merlin, but I wasn't expecting to be locked in a tower for three...or four days" Arthur said quietly, glancing into the darkness that lie outside his window.

"No!" yelled Merlin suddenly, taking the other man by surprise, "Arthur you are just as important in this time as you were in ours and have you forgotten the prophecy?"

"Of course n..." Arthur started.

" _Two sides of the same coin_ " Merlin recited anxiously, "our paths will always converge Arthur, there's no way I could ever forget you." One looked at the other, both speechless and a bit uncomfortable.

"Well...now that w-we've gotten that out of the way, did you still want to...talk?" Merlin stuttered, feeling extremely awkward.

"Merlin this is the most bored I've ever been in my life" Arthur rolled his eyes, "yes I still want to talk."

Merlin smiled at this and took a seat at the end of Arthur's bed, crossing his legs and facing the King as he took a seat against the headboard.

"Where should I start?" muttered Merlin to himself.

"I have a question I've wanted to ask for about...a thousand years now" Arthur said with a playful smile.

"Shoot" Merlin said in reply.

"Shoot what?" asked Arthur, suddenly very confused.

"It means...never mind just ask your question" Merlin sighed.

"What is it like to be Emrys or Merlin or...this all powerful sorcerer. I mean it's been a millennia and you barely look different" Arthur said, sounding almost in awe for one of the first times in his life.

Merlin smiled, "well I'm actually a warlock not a sorcerer..."

"Good, warlock sounds more...illustrious" Arthur interrupted.

Merlin rolled his eyes, "as I was saying: I'm not entirely sure how to explain it. I've never known any different from...my life I guess. I guess from an outside perspective it might seem extraordinary but for me...It's just me."

Arthur nodded, "is your magic different from uh, normal magic?"

Merlin shrugged at this, "I don't know, I mean it's definitely rawer and my body can handle larger quantities of it but each magical culture practices magic differently so again it's all in the eye of the beholder."

"Wait, how can you practice magic differently?" asked Arthur, brow furrowed in confusion, "I thought it was just something people learned?"

"Well think of how mannerisms are different in Cenrad's kingdom and your own" Merlin explained, "both kingdoms grew differently and in different environments so each had distinct features. In large, western magical cultures like England or America, magic is normally performed with a wand because it's the easiest way to focus magical energy and the fastest way to cast spells, but in larger eastern magical cultures they channel their magic using sacred, circular markings for rituals. This is slower and less useful in a duel but you can't disarm them like you can a wizard using a wand."

Arthur gave Merlin a look telling him that most of the information he had just divulged had gone over his head, but nodded anyways.

"What is...England and America?" Arthur questioned.

"Countries" Merlin said with a smile, "remember the Franks?" Arthur nodded.

"That's now called France and remember the Normans?" Another nod.

"That became England, one of the most powerful countries in the world" Merlin explained.

"Country...I've never really heard of that kind of kingdom before" Arthur pondered.

"It's a nation, like a kingdom, but so much more" Merlin said excitedly, even after a thousand years the way the world evolved was still fascinating to him, "in fact kingdoms don't really even exist anymore."

"Really?" asked Arthur, now genuinely interested, "then how...?"

"Democracy" Merlin said simply.

"I feel as if I've heard that word before" Arthur said, searching his mind.

"Maybe in a book, it was invented almost five hundred years before even Camelot by the Greeks" Merlin explained, "instead of birth deciding who leads, the people who live in the country _vote_ for their leader."

"They choose the king?" Arthur asked.

"Not a king, but yes the people choose a leader. Think about the downfall it would cause for so many monarchs if the peasants decided if they could lead or not" Merlin laughed.

"Yes..." Arthur muttered, trying to process all the new information in front of him.

"I brought you this book, I got it in America, but it's the history of western government. I think it can explain it better than I can" Merlin said, laying the thick book on the bed at his feet. Arthur picked it up, giving it a rather apprehensive glance.

"I also brought this" Merlin said with an excited smile, suddenly putting the map out on the bed in front of the two men.

"What's this?" asked Arthur.

"The world" answered Merlin simply, "Arthur I know that all you've ever known was the five kingdoms but there's so much _more!_ The world is so vast and no one of our time ever even began to dream there was this much left to discover." He pointed to a small section of Scotland and other small parts of England. "This was the five kingdoms. These little sections of these lands. But look at the world Arthur! There's not only more than five kingdoms but seven continents!"

"I don't...I can't..." Arthur stammered, as Merlin animatedly explained the paper before him.

"Europe, Asia, North America, South America, Australia, Africa, and Antarctica" Merlin said, naming and pointing to each continent.

"They're so big" Arthur whispered, "especially these three." He pointed to Russia, Canada, and the United States.

"That one is America, it's one of the most powerful countries in the world, right beside Britain" Merlin said.

"I thought America was a continent?" asked Arthur.

"It is, but it's also a country. It's part of the North American Continent, along with Canada and a bunch of other countries" Merlin said.

Arthur pinched the bridge of his nose, "that's confusing." Merlin laughed.

Arthur noticed as Merlin yawned for the fifth time in the past minute, despite his excitement, "go get some sleep Merlin, I think I'll start on this book."

Merlin gave his friend a look, "are you sure Arthur? That's just non magical politics I haven't even started on all the poppycock happening in the magical world at the moment."

"There's always tomorrow."

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 **So I realize I could have gone into less detail with the geographical facts but I figured since Camelot was from like a thousand years ago and people knew a solid nothing about the world back then Arthur would need detail. Who would have known taking AP World History would actually have a real world application...kinda? Next chapter things heat up for Merlin a little and we finally go back to the golden trio! Sorry it's been awhile since we've seen them but I promise next chapter will be amazingly sappy! Happy Holidays everyone!**


	23. What Could have Been

**Chapter 23**

 **I don't even have an excuse as to why this is so late. I literally just forgot to post this chapter. Like I literally thought I posted this chapter like a month ago and then I just checked and I'm like where's chapter 23? Well here I guess? Why am I like this?**

 **I also had someone point out to me that I've gone a little off track in the past few chapters on actually including Harry Potter in this story. That was 100% my bad and I promise I just got a little...excited writing the reunion for Merlin and Arthur and I really love writing modern!Merlin so I've gone through the next few chapters and reworked part of the plot to do this story right!**

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"You are just a pawn in his game Emrys!" Fudge screamed after Merlin as he turned to face the exit, hateful annoyance painted on his elvish features. Important looking documents whirled around his head, creating even more chaos in the doorway to the Minister's office.

The office showed all the signs of mental instability. Merlin could see confidential documents piled up in a dusty corner and a magical safe with the door slightly cracked containing an extra wand and a piece of paper containing random disjointed sentences many of which involved the words _"Dumbledore"_ and _"betrayal"._ Merlin looked at the Minister of Magic once again. He had purple circles under his eyes as if he hadn't slept for weeks and an unhealed cut on his cheek, most likely resulting from his haphazard shaving job.

"No Minister I am not" Merlin sighed, unsure of what else to say. His energy was drained from attempting to argue logic with a stubbornly irrational man. Arthur would have known how to deal with the Minister better than himself and for a moment Merlin dearly wished he had brought the King along with him.

"I know that old man wants nothing more but to have my position" Fudge unrelentingly snarled after Merlin, causing the few ministry employees walking by to stop and stare at the two. "He's been trying to overthrow me for years!" Fudge's secretary looked up for a moment in pure exasperation, Merlin assumed she was still getting used to the Minister's occasional outbursts.

Merlin snorted at this, causing Fudge's rabid expression to waver for a moment, "you know... Fudge, I'm not at all surprised by the events of the past few decades with the things _the Ministry of Magic_ allows to happen to innocent school children." With that, the younger man turned and strode down the hall with a swish of his cape and Fudge was left steaming in his doorway feeling utterly defeated. Not because the Professor had possessed a better argument, no, Fudge was bothered by the fact that he was not able to get the last word in.

He gave the few employees that still lingered a scathing look and disappeared back into his office. Although he was not fast enough to miss a single whisper from one of the onlookers.

" _...Unhinged."_

A green flame grew from a fireplace in the corner and with that the most powerful warlock in existence was gone.

Merlin arrived back at the castle at around noon. He had expected the meeting to take much longer than it had. The Minister had refused to even view the evidence he had spent hours collecting and dismissed any concern Merlin voiced as evidence he was being plotted against.

"The man really is batty" Merlin muttered to himself, rubbing the back of his neck. Squinting against the bright sunlight pouring through his open windows, he flicked his wrist so the glass snapped shut and was covered by the thick red curtains which blocked out light quite well. It seemed that attempting to argue with an insane man seemed to sap one's energy quite efficiently.

Merlin dropped onto his bed like a dumbbell being dropped to the floor. He was rather positive that if he was forced to deal with modern wizarding stupidity for another moment he would be forced to return the favor to Arthur and take a thousand year nap.

XxXxXxXxXxXx

"Harry what's that?" asked a feminine voice from behind him. Harry glanced up from his position on the couch in the Gryffindor common room as he watched his bushy haired friend and best mate approach him with smiles.

"I was just looking through my trunk, you know cleaning it out a bit cause it won't...close anymore" Harry started sheepishly, interrupted by Ron's amused snort.

"Why am I not surprised?" muttered Hermione.

"Anyways I was just looking at some stuff I found" Harry shrugged.

"Bloody hell, is that us?" Ron asked suddenly, glancing over Harry's shoulder.

"That was my best guess" Harry answered with a laugh.

"I look like a red toadstool" Ron muttered, examining his twelve year old self. Both Harry and Hermione laughed at Ron as he blinked as if he was somehow viewing the photograph wrong.

"Is that blood on my shirt?" Hermione asked suddenly, grabbing the picture from Ron.

"I'm rather positive this was taken the same day Ron and I first tried to teach you how to ride a broom" Harry said, giving Hermione a playful smile.

"Oh Merlin I don't even want to remember that" groaned Hermione.

"Isn't that when you decided the best way was to fly a broom was to yell at it then explain how the bristles weren't aerodynamic before yelling at it again?" laughed Ron and Hermione groaned.

"No wonder I didn't have any friends" she lamented causing her two friends to roll their eyes.

"What about us 'Mione?" whined Ron.

"Meh" answered Hermione, causing Harry to stifle a laugh.

"'Mione" whined Ron playfully and Hermione punched him lightly on the arm.

"You only like me for my notes Ronald" she said in a prim tone.

"Don't forgot the essays" Ron replied, receiving another more meaningful punch to the arm.

"At least I have that, tell me again what are your redeeming qualities?" Hermione pondered playfully.

"Are you telling me my 12 year old potato face and fire hair doesn't make me..." Ron was cut off by Hermione's laughter.

"I believe that was one of the greatest descriptions I've heard" she giggled.

"Mate, are you okay?" Ron asked suddenly, noticing Harry had been silent for a few minutes.

"Oh...yeah sorry. I was just, thinking" Harry replied rather quietly, not removing his eyes from the picture in his fingers.

"About what?" asked Hermione, her voice intentionally quiet.

"Just us I guess. How much things have changed" Harry said, emerald eyes looking rather far away from the current situation.

"I guess they have" said Ron with a melancholy laugh.

"Sometimes I forgot about the times in my life before all this, that I was part of a whole separate world for over a decade" Hermione commented, plopping down on the sofa next to Harry.

"I forget what it was like when everyone still lived at home" piped in Ron, climbing over the back of the couch and sliding down so he was sitting upside down.

"I...I don't think I'll ever forget any of this" Harry muttered, mostly to himself, gripping the photograph a little tighter.

"Me too" Hermione said kindly, "remember when we snuck out to the high tower last year?"

"To watch the comet" Ron smiled.

"And you said it was the color of toothpaste" Harry grinned at his red-haired friend.

"It was!" Ron defended indignantly.

"It wasn't" Hermione snorted, looking at her two friends.

"It's been five years since this all started" Harry mentioned suddenly.

"Sometimes it feels like a week's gone by since I first met you two on the train" Hermione sighed.

"You were bossy" Ron muttered with a half-grin.

"You were rude" Hermione retorted, a small blush painting her cheeks. The two went on with their banter with Ron being very oblivious as always, but Harry simply watched silently. In his mind he was trying to catalogue all the changes over the past few years. Ron's nose had gotten a bit longer, Hermione's features had emerged from her face a bit more, it seemed the only change he saw in himself was a more prominent frown when he looked in the mirror. The trials had only brought the three of them closer, but one day what if they started to do the opposite?

"Harry was...Harry" Ron said suddenly, drawing his best friend out of his thoughts.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Harry raised an eyebrow.

"Let's see" Ron started, cheeks flushed from lying upside down for so long, "you were a weirdly humble 11 year old."

"You were way too polite to everyone at first" Hermione chimed in.

"Except for Malfoy" Ron snorted.

"He was a prick" replied Harry, crossing his arms.

"Hey, no one's denying that mate" Ron scoffed.

"I think he's...changed. Just a little" said Harry absentmindedly and almost missed the horror-struck look Ron shot his way.

"I never thought I'd hear you say something like that Harry" Hermione said, just as confused as her ginger companion but better at hiding it.

"I guess he's been through alot in the past few years" Harry shrugged, "we're alike in that way."

"You have to go through a lot to grow a lot" Ron said, with the most serious and sage-like look he could manage. Harry and Hermione looked at their friend for a moment before breaking out into hysterical laughter.

"What...?" asked Ron, the blush on his cheeks deepening.

"I just can't...take you seriously like that" Hermione gasped for air.

"Mate..." was all Harry was able to get out through his laughter.

"C'mon guys..." Ron said, sliding the rest of the way off the couch to face his friends right way up.

"Sorry mate" Harry finally said, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye.

"You can't act like a fool for five years then suddenly pull that" Hermione said.

"Shut up" Ron muttered.

"I don't know what I'd do without you two" Harry said with a shake of his head and a smile.

"Die probably" shrugged Hermione and Ron smirked in return. Harry simply laughed.

"Remember when I spilled my ink in portions and you tried to clean it up?" Harry asked with a mischievous smile.

"By pouring half a potion on it I remember" laughed Ron, as Hermione snickered at the memory.

"But your potion was messed up and it was supposed to be black so Snape actually thought you had done it right" Harry smiled, recalling the memory.

"That potion was the best grade you ever got in that class" added Hermione, with tears at the corners of her eyes.

The three best friends simply sat and exchanged memories for the rest of the day, acting for one of the first times in their lives, like normal teenagers. Harry was sure he hadn't felt this carefree in years. He was a haunted soul. But as his laughter rang out through the warm and familiar room he could almost fool himself into believing that he had lived a normal life. That he had never endangered his friends lives. That he had never watched Cedric die.

He wondered if this was what his life would have been like if his mother and father had never died. He imagined his father holding his hand as he walked through the barrier for the first time, only eleven years old. His mother wouldn't be far behind of course, but she would want to make sure none of the muggles had seen them walk though (even though they never did). He would get letters from them at least once a week. His father would want to know if he had befriended the Weasley twins yet because he had 'heard good things'. His mother would want to know how his classes were. Harry would grow annoyed because his parents wrote so often, but it didn't really matter. His father would be a professional quidditch player and his mother would be a healer.

"Harry, mate you okay?" Ron asked suddenly when he noticed the far away look on Harry's face.

"Oh yeah sorry, just...spaced out for a second there" Harry said with a small smile. Ron and Hermione accepted the answer, but both could feel that the atmosphere in the room had changed.

Harry however was imagining how his parents would react if they had been alive to see the person he had become.

He didn't know if they would be proud or horrified with his life. He liked to tell himself they would be proud of who he had become but how could he judge that when he wasn't even proud of himself?

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 **So again I'm sorry this is like two months late guys. Honestly I was feeling kind of sad writing this because I'm leaving for college soon and reading through this again that definitely kind of showed. Sorry if it depressed any of you.**


	24. Unhinged

**Chapter 24**

 **I think this is the fastest update I've ever had on this story. I just got absorbed into this chapter and suddenly I had written the whole thing. Just think of this as an apology on taking so long to upload the last one.**

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"Is this right Merlin?" Arthur said adjusting the buttons on his shirt and pulling at the sleeves on his coat.

"Yes dear you look wonderful" Merlin replied, rolling his eyes.

"I want to make a good impression" Arthur sighed with a frown as he ran a hand through his freshly washed locks, "I must admit though, I love...showers, right?"

"They're quite wonderful aren't they?" Merlin laughed as he pulled on his over coat and shoes.

"Much better than the tin tub filled with scalding water" Arthur replied smugly.

"Hey, I put my heart and soul into those baths!" Merlin said indignantly.

Arthur simply laughed before turning to face his best friend, "Do I look modern?"

Merlin simply laughed. Arthur wore a more faded pair of Merlin's larger jeans which fit him better than Merlin assumed they would, a crisp white button up and a tweed blazer.

"You look quite fit, mate" Merlin finally replied.

"I have no idea what you just said."

"We should get going before we're late" Merlin said, opening the door to Arthur's room.

"You look like one of those...detectives...in those books you gave me" Arthur commented as they left the room. Merlin simply wore a pressed pair of black slacks, a white button up with a light blue sweater vest over top and his standard overcoat for warmth. Standard English prep fashion in his mind.

"Sure Arthur" Merlin rolled his eyes.

Arthur looked around nervously at the deserted corridors, "are you sure this is okay?" 

"I mean this is technically still your castle Arthur, why can't you come out of that room?" Merlin said with a shrug.

"I know but I just feel as if...something bad will happen if the wrong person sees me here" Arthur muttered.

"You'll be fine" Merlin comforted, but he knew his friend was right. If they were to stumble across Umbridge he knew their lives would become much more complicated than they already were.

"So this is your room?" Arthur asked quietly when they finally reached the heavy oak door.

Merlin nodded and pushed the door open, glancing at Arthur as the room's interior was revealed. He couldn't help but smile softly as he saw Arthur's eye's pause on the Pendragon family crest proudly hung on the wall.

"Even after all these years?" he asked quietly.

"Of course" Merlin answered simply. He walked across the room to the fire place and grabbed a pouch off the mantle while Arthur continued to scan the room.

"Ready to go?" Merlin asked.

"As I'll ever be" Arthur said with a deep breath.

"Put your hand on my shoulder and step into the fire when I do" Merlin instructed.

"Step into the fire!" Arthur exclaimed, giving Merlin a slightly horrified look.

"Yes Arthur step into the fire, you'll be fine you pansy."

"I'm not a pansy!" Arthur said, crossing his arms.

Merlin reached into the pouch and pulled out a small hand full of green powder. He stepped forward with Arthur in tow.

"Number 12 Grimmauld Place."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"They're late" McGonagall muttered with a displeased expression, exaggerated by the dim firelight filling the room.

"I'm sure everything's fine" Remus said with a calming expression directed toward his former teacher and coworker.

"Yes, yes I know" she muttered, frown deepening.

Suddenly the light in the room shown green as two figures stepped out, shrouded in shadow by the fireplace.

"Hullo...Merlin" said Sirius with a smile, as he saw his friend again for the first time in a fortnight. The fact that Ben was now Merlin didn't change much about the man himself in Sirius's mind. He was a good person and that was what really mattered to him, all powerful warlock or not.

"Good to see you Sirius" Merlin smiled.

"I assume this is...Arthur...or would you prefer we use your title?" asked Remus, standing and extending his hand to the king.

"Just Arthur is fine" Arthur replied with a nervous laugh and shook Remus's hand awkwardly.

"Well it's nice to finally meet you mate" said Sirius giving Arthur his signature smile.

"Thank you...Sirius, I take?" Arthur said with his most kingly smile, making Merlin snicker slightly.

"That's me" replied Sirius, extending his hand.

"Pleasure" Arthur smiled.

"I assume Merlin explained all of this to you?" McGonagall asked, folding her hands on the round table before her.

"Yes, secret wizarding society made to make up for the wizarding government's lack of action when it comes to a certain dark wizard's actions as of late?" Arthur asked, fighting back a smile. "My apologies, that is a sentence I never thought I would say in my entire life."

"I understand" McGonagall answered with a small smile.

"So you're a..." Arthur Weasley began before trailing off.

"Yes, Arthur has no innate magical ability" Merlin answered for him, receiving a thankful look from his friend. All eyes turned back to Arthur as he shifted uncomfortably.

"If you don't mind me asking, how did you...return to this world?" asked McGonagall, "we were all under the impression you were killed."

"I was..." Arthur began wringing his hands under the table, "the last thing I remembered was looking up at Merlin and Gwynevere's face, uh, she was my wife." Some of the wizards present gave the king sad looks as he explained. None of them had realized how difficult it must be for the man to suddenly have lost every single person he ever knew. He had almost no connection to his previous life aside from Merlin himself.

"I remember saying something to Merlin, I'm not quite sure what exactly, I had just learned he had magic after having spent nearly a decade together and I had felt betrayed, I believe I forgave him?" Arthur glanced over at his best friend for confirmation and Merlin nodded.

"The next thing I knew I was underwater and then I was breathing the air with excalibur in my hand in a forest I had never seen before" Arthur concluded.

"That must have been quite disorienting dear" Molly Weasley said, giving the king a sympathetic look.

"It...was actually. Still I found my way back to Came...um, Hogwarts and that was when I entered the thro...great hall" Arthur stuttered. Merlin gave him a surprised look, he had never seen the great king act in this manner before.

"Arthur is still adjusting to the changes, but he is trying his best to learn about the modern world" Merlin said in his best attempt to cover for his friend.

"Yes, and none of us expect you to be ready to return to a somewhat normal life, but the question still remains: what are we going to do when this secret is revealed?" asked McGonagall.

"I know there is no way to keep our true identities hidden forever, I'm surprised the illusion has lasted this long but we will make a plan when the time comes. There is no way to know how the world will react to this, but knowing the initial reaction will make it much easier to formulate an idea" Merlin said, folding his hands on the table. The other order members nodded as they looked at their friend. Half of his elfish features were shrouded in shadow from the crackling fireplace and his trademark smile was nowhere to be found, yet his striking blue eyes never had lost their shine. Although things may have changed their friend had not.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"I think that went rather well" Merlin said with a yawn.

"I think I sounded like a bumbling idiot" Arthur grumbled, hands shoved in the pockets of his jacket.

"No one is expecting you to suddenly be comfortable around magic Arthur" Merlin said, bumping his shoulder into his friend's.

"I'm supposed to be a king Merlin, I was raised to be unwavering, strong, but in that room I felt completely lost."

"That's what made you a better king than your father Arthur" Merlin said softly. Arthur continued on forward as Merlin's comment had gone completely unheard.

"Emrys!" a voice suddenly yelled from behind the two. Merlin glanced at the sunrise out the window, who would be up at this hour?

As he turned he came face to face with the last person he wished to see. Dolores Umbridge stood smugly only feet away with the Minister of Magic in tow.

"I never thought you would go this far Emrys" Fudge said in a low snarl, "lying to the entire student body in order to gain credibility? To overthrow me? You're a mad man."

"I talked to a few students, your secret was easily revealed" Umbridge said although Merlin did not miss the twitch of her right eye as she spoke the word easily. Merlin felt a pang of fear for the students she had chosen as her victims.

"And you!" Fudge yelled suddenly at Arthur, "you're part of this scheme too!"

"I'm sorry?" asked Arthur, straightening his shoulders in a way that he towered over the cowardly Minister.

"Y-you will a-all be arrested!" Fudge stuttered as he glanced up at the suddenly very powerful looking king.

"Professor?" asked a voice suddenly from behind the warlock's back. As he turned he saw none other than Harry Potter standing in the doorway to the Gryffindor dormitory. Merlin had been so distracted he had't even realized where they were.

"Go back inside Mr. Potter" Merlin said comfortingly, although more and more of the Gryffindor's began to appear behind the boy who lived, making avoiding a scene nearly impossible.

"Mr. Potter this is none of your concern" Fudge said matter of factly, crossing his arms.

"Well if you're trying to destroy my teacher's name just as you attempted to mine, I do believe this is my business" Harry said coldly, crossing his arms.

Arthur glanced at the child with respect, he was rather small and judging from the bags under his eyes, rather sleep deprived. Yet he stood his ground.

"This is none of your bloody concern!" Fudge yelled, face turning red. Some of the younger students gasped at this and looked to the older students for explanation.

"Minister, I pray you please try to keep your...temper...at bay when talking in front of the students" Merlin said and those present could have sworn the air around them dropped ten degrees.

"I know you're all part of his plot" Fudge snarled, although the panic was beginning to set in at his current situation.

"You're bloody insane!" Harry laughed coldly.

Umbridge, who had watched the situation rather silently suddenly spoke, "One hundred Points from Gryffindor Mr. Potter, and detention for the rest of the year. The Minister of Magic will not be spoken to in that manner." Some of the younger students gasped at this while older students yelled in outrage.

"Bitch I will..." began Fred Weasley before Merlin held up a hand.

"That is not necessary Mr. Weasley" Merlin said, taking a deep breath and the surrounding air suddenly began to smell of ozone.

"We're not going to just stand here and do nothing Professor!" Hermione yelled indignantly as Ron secretly high fived his brother.

"It would do you well to shut your mouth mudblood" Umbridge snarled.

Each and every person present fell silent in shock. Even the Minister himself gave his confidant a surprised look.

Arthur watched as rage filled Merlin's face.

"You dare..."

"I'll handle this Merlin" Arthur said, giving the two adults facing them a look he reserved for enemies on the battlefield, right before he ran them through with his sword.

"Get out of this castle" he said, in a voice Merlin had never heard him use before, "you and anyone else who holds any malice towards these students are no longer welcome here."

With that Umbridge and Fudge disappeared with a quiet pop and Arthur's shoulders twitched in surprise.

"How...?" asked Merlin, looking at his friend. Arthur returned his look, with just as much shock.

"Look!" yelled George, pointing out the window at a spot just outside the gates of Hogwarts.

There stood the minister and his lacky. The minister began to pound on an invisible wall that now seemed to separate them from the rest of the school.

Merlin laughed as he watched the two adults pound on the gates like children throwing a tantrum, almost missing the small cracks in the window he looked out of. Taking another look, it seemed that every piece of glass in sight had small cracks running through it. He looked at the students in front of him and found a look of great surprise on Harry Potter's face.

"The lot of you should probably get back to bed, or at least freshen up before breakfast" Merlin said with a smile, which quickly faded into worry as he spared another look at the window and turned to escort the king back to his room.

"Harry what was that?" Hermione whispered as the two walked back into their common room.

"What was what?" he replied, acting as nonchalant as he could manage.

"That was the same thing that happened when Snape called me a...you know. All the bottles broke. Now when Umbridge did it, all the glass cracked. I know it wasn't me or I would have felt it and I saw the look on your face" Hermione said softly, worry written all over her features, "have you been doing accidental magic?"

"Everything's fine Hermione" Harry said with the most reassuring smile he could muster.

"If you've been doing accidental magic, everything is most certainly not fine!" she scolded.

"It's okay, I guess I just have to control my emotions better. It's fine." Harry said before walking up the stairs up to the boy's dormitory.

Hermione stared after him, wringing her hands.

Everything was most certainly not fine.

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 **And the plot thickens! We're really starting to get into the actual story now, and to the commenter who voiced concern on Merlin's power being watered down in the final fight cause he's so OP, don't worry I have a plan.**


	25. A new Ally

**Chapter 25**

 **So fair warning guys, the next few updates may be a little sparse. I know that doesn't say much coming from me, but bear with me. So I started this story in 2015, a little under a year and a half ago (and you're only on chapter 25? Pull it together) but I was a Sophomore when I started this (for any non-Americans that's the second year of high school) and now I'm dealing with the SAT and ACT ect. Any of you that have survived junior year know how hard it is to manage AP tests, and finals, and the ACT, and the SAT and everything else. Also by the way, I've gotten a few notes saying America is not the United States and I kinda get where you're coming from but like...I live there? I call it America? All my friends call it America? Like when I say America you're not like oh yes of course she's talking about Canada. It may not be a totally correct but like honestly guys I don't care and it's just natural. Sorry? I guess? (also I hear public figures call it America so it can't be that wrong).**

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"Fine, tell him to call for me when he is ready" said a figure sat in the faded armchair positioned to face the floor to ceiling window across the room.

"Of course my lady" said a lanky man with nearly white hair.

Morgana felt the tension in her shoulders leave as soon as she heard the door close behind the man.

She barely knew where she was, let alone who owned the large mansion she had been staying in. A few of the people living there had kindly taken her in after she awoke in the splinters of what she assumed used to be a tree. She knew it was very rude to ignore a host asking to see a guest, but every instinct in her body told her to run from him.

She also knew that even if he was a magic user she was most likely exponentially more powerful than him.

That was why she didn't run.

But now it had been nearly a week since he first called for her, and she knew she could ignore the request no longer.

Her hair had been piled into some sort of stretchy tie on the top of her head and she wore a piece of garb borrowed from one of the other witches of the house. It was much less elaborate than what she was accustomed to, but she also felt she had no right to complain.

She grabbed a thick cloak from her bed and wrapped it around her shoulders. She opened the door to find the pale haired man waiting just outside her door expectantly.

"Are you ready Miss Morgana?" he asked, eyeing her wearily.

"It is _Lady_ Morgana, and yes lead the way" she answered primly, holding her regal chin high.

"Follow me" he replied, making an expression that looked as if he had taken a rather unpleasant bite of moldy food.

The two walked silently down the long and drafty hall that lead from Morgana's room to the library.

"The Dark Lord will not take kindly to your snake like tongue _woman_ " the pale man warned, "I would suggest y..." His voice was suddenly cut off as Morgana's eyes flashed gold. He began to gasp for air and found his hands clawing at his throat after a few seconds.

"I do not need his kindness nor approval" Morgana answered as she looked down at the pathetic man gasping for air, "I could destroy all of you if only I wish."

She opened the heavy door herself as she released her guide from her magic and left him to heave on the floor as she entered the dimly lit library.

She glanced around at the damp and peeling wall paper and then to the fireplace on a far wall. It seemed to be the only source of warmth in the entire dank and drafty room.

"What a beautiful home" Morgana scoffed, glancing over to the large armchair placed directly in front of the raging fire.

"Sometimes one cannot afford to be picky about their hideouts" a voice responded from the chair.

"You can perform magic, your options cannot be _this_ limited" Morgana answered, tucking a piece of wavy black hair behind her ear.

"It seems you do not understand who I am" the figure responded, finally rising from the chair. The corner of Morgana's blood red lips twitched slightly in disgust as she finally gazed upon her host.

His pale skin rivaled even hers, each and every vein was visible like a thin blue crack. His cold blue eyes locked with hers, sending an uncomfortable shiver down the witch's spine. Morgana could not help but imagine a snake slithering towards its next meal as he slowly walked towards her.

"I have no idea who you are, where I am, or why I am here" Morgana answered, holding her chin high so she was still in a position to look down at the man, if she could call him that, only ten feet away from her.

"I see" the snake like figure said in a tone she could only assume to be a mocking imitation of warmth, "my name is Voldemort, and you are...?"

"Voldemort" Morgana repeated, narrowing her eyes, "quite a strange name, is it not?"

"It holds recognition" he replied simply, and again Morgana felt a strange aura radiate from him.

She sighed internally, "well it is only proper for my introductions as well. I am the Lady Morgana." She did not miss the slight uptick in the man's shark like mouth.

"I see. Am I being too presumptuous to assume you are the same Lady Morgana from legend?" he replied.

"Legend?" Morgana questioned, crossing her arms.

Voldemort smirked slightly, he could only hope his plan would work, "of course my Lady. You are a myth in the magical community. An...inspiration."

"Is that so?" Morgana asked, suddenly much more interested in the man standing in front of her.

"Indeed. You are known as the savior of the magical of the community. The only one brave enough to stand up to that demon Warlock...Merlin." Voldemort paused for a moment. If his assumptions were correct he could persuade the Lady Morgana to his side. However, if the professor at Hogwarts was not who he said he was, his plans would be shredded.

"Demon..." Morgana repeated, looking back in her memories at the Merlin she had known for years. Her and Merlin were enemies, she hated him and everything he stood for. But, he was not a demon. She knew he had simply been brainwashed by his love for Arthur and his knights. He had simply stood in her way, but he was not evil.

"Yes, you killed King Arthur..." He continued, trailing off as he saw the first trace of emotion in the enchantress's face. He smiled inwardly as all his suspicions about Professor Emrys were confirmed.

"I killed him?" she asked, quickly recovering from the surprise.

"You did not know?" Voldemort questioned, narrowing his eyes.

"I remember...a battle" she replied, "Arthur was injured, not by myself, but he was injured all the same. Merlin and I fought...and he dealt a blow with Excalibur. After that I remember nothing."

"You died" Voldemort said simply. Morgana nodded calmly, though inside she felt rather strange. It was not as if she had expected a different answer, but hearing it said out loud was rather startling.

"But, My Lady, I too am fighting for a cause, just as you were" Voldemort stated, linking his fingers and looking at Morgana.

She narrowed her eyes, "and what do you need from me?"

Voldemort laughed a dead strangled laugh, "right to the point I see. I am sure you are unaware but your nemesis Merlin still lives, and as of last week, so does King Arthur."

"As of last week..." Morgana repeated, "how long has it been since I last walked this earth?"

Voldemort paused for a moment, "by my best estimate a millennia and half."

"Impossible..." muttered Morgana, eyes wide, "how are they still alive; how am _I_ still alive?"

"Magic I assume" Voldemort answered, and Morgana scoffed.

"You say you are fighting for a cause. What exactly is it?" Morgana asked, still distrusting the man.

"Since you left this earth the muggles- or non-magical people- have taken over this earth. They persecute those of us with magic and kill us if we are found. Some...misguided...wizards have sided with the muggles, empathized with them. They will be the death of our kind. For magic to survive the muggles must die. They are...unclean...inferior and a plague on our kind" Voldemort said with a calm tone.

"So nothing has changed" Morgana said darkly.

"Yes. Your old enemy has also sided with the muggles and is readying his armies with his King to destroy our cause" Voldemort finished, setting his trap for the ancient witch before him.

"I do not know your cause or your people. I do not know your values or how the world has changed while I was away. But I do know Merlin. I do not wish to become your soldier, but I do empathize with your struggles. If Merlin steps in your way, I will strike him down. Do not ask any more of me" Morgana stated simply, daring her new reluctant ally to challenge her.

"Of course My Lady, I could not have asked for any more. Thank you for your help" Voldemort smiled, claw like hands tightening on the arms of his chair in excitement.

Morgana nodded and turned to leave the room, "I will be in my room if I am needed." With that she left the library and the door closed behind her. She could not shake the feeling that she had just made a deal with the devil.

Morgana would never side against magic, but after so long devoid of life much of her age old anger had dissipated. She could not remember the rage that had consumed her so long ago, that drove her to make the choices she made. But she remembered her pain and her values. She remembered Uther and his Tyranny, but she also remembered Arthur.

She was too proud to admit mistake, but deep down Morgana knew Arthur had been a great King. She knew he could not truly escape his father's prejudice during his reign, but she could never forgive the Pendragon's treatment of magic. Morgana had no love for her Father, it disgusted her to even call him that. But Arthur had a good heart, and Merlin only did what he thought was right. But Morgana wanted more than that. She wanted magic to once again take its rightful place on the throne of Albion.

Morgana was tried. Tired of fighting, tired of running, tired of hatred. She wanted peace, and if she needed to fight to attain the peace she desired she would.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"Professor!" Hermione Granger called.

The man in question turned to face one of his star pupils and smiled, "hello Ms. Granger. Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Yes. I'm worried...about Harry" she explained, crossing her arms.

"Has something happened to Mr. Potter?" Merlin asked, his brow furrowing in confusion.

"I'm not sure. Things have been happening in the past few months and every time I try to talk to him about it he just tells me he's fine, but I know something's wrong" Hermione said, tightening her arms around herself.

"What kind of things Ms. Granger?" Merlin asked.

"This is going to sound absolutely insane, but I think he's been having issues with...accidental magic" Hermione stated.

"Accidental magic? Are you sure?" Merlin questioned, feeling his stomach drop as Hermione confirmed his worst fears.

"Well a month or two ago Professor Snape lost his temper and called me a...Mudblood" Hermione explained uncomfortably.

"Yes I remember" Merlin interjected, eyes darkening.

"And when Snape said it- sorry Professor Snape- Harry kind of lost it. All the potions around us exploded and then yesterday when the Minister said it again all the glass on the windows was cracked. I don't know if anyone noticed but me and Harry says nothing is wrong...but I think something's happening" Hermione explained, fidgeting with worry.

"I think you may be right Ms. Ganger" Merlin sighed, "as always."

"S-sorry professor" Hermione apologized with an embarrassed blush.

"No, no don't apologize" Merlin said with a wave of his hand, "never be sorry for you gifts Ms. Granger."

"Thank you Professor" Hermione said.

"I'm going to make sure nothing is wrong with Mr. Potter, thank you for bringing this to my attention" Merlin sighed, smiling at his student.

Hermione returned the gesture, giving Merlin one of the most genuine smiles she had managed in a long time.

 **XxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

 **So I actually got this out a lot faster than I thought I would. We're bringing in the dream team Merlin and Hermione. I always thought they would be friends. They're both so loyal and smart. Please excuse me but the Chainsmokers just released a whole album and I need to go lose it for a second. K bye.**


	26. New Friends and New Discoveries

**Chapter 26**

 **Hey guys! So...900 follows...that's insanely crazy. Btw this is hindsight here: sorry for the long ass author's note this chapter. I was stuck on a plane for 6 hours and I was going a little stir crazy. I don't want to delete any of it cause it made me laugh looking back at how tired I was.**

 **9:15 pm**

 **I'm writing this chapter on a plane and there is some serious turbulence going on rn, so if this chapter never gets posted just assume I died in a fiery crash. Although I guess if I do die this will never actually get posted so bummer I guess. Oh well if this does go up just assume I'm alive and well and more importantly safely back on the ground. But seriously I'm actually super sacred of turbulence and this is** _ **not fun for me**_ **. Well, back to my distraction I guess. Hope you guys enjoy!**

 **11:30 pm**

 **so the turbulence stopped but I have no signal to talk to any of my friends so I guess I'll just add random thoughts here when I need a break from the story. So how are you guys? How are your lives going? I'm so tired right now none of this probably makes any sense but I cannot for the life of me sleep on air planes. I'm now realizing that none of you can reply to me either so this is just a little sad.**

 **12:45 am**

 **God I am so tired and I cannot fall asleep I wanna dieeeeeeee**

 **XxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

"Are you ready?" Merlin asked, tossing Arthur's nightwear into a teleportation basket he had placed in the corner of the King's room.

"I must admit Merlin, I am quite the fan of modern clothing" Arthur said absentmindedly, looking admirably at his reflection in the mirror. He wore a simple maroon sweater and a pair of immaculate dark jeans. His dark brown loafers were perfectly polished just like the rest of his outfit.

"You just like looking at yourself in it" Merlin scoffed, rolling his eyes. He wore a similar pair of dark jeans with a white cuffed shirt and a blackish sweater vest.

"All of us all seem to look the same though" Arthur said with a small frown, "Some version of sweaters and jeans at all time."

"Well...you're not wrong" Merlin admitted, "but it is a professional ensemble, and people of every economic status can afford some version of it."

"That's true" Arthur shrugged, "are we leaving?"

"Almost, I need to put in my contacts" Merlin remembered.

"Just wear your glasses" Arthur commanded, "I don't know why you just don't fix your eyesight with magic."

"It doesn't work that way Arthur" Merlin rolled his eyes and placed his rounded tortoiseshell on his face.

"It should" Arthur riffed, looking at his friend, "I suppose they look good on you though."

"Thank you" Merlin answered, grabbing his worn shoulder bag from the chair in the room as the two left for their activities for the night.

To any ignorant bystander, the two properly dressed handsome young men would not seem a strange sight, yet to the small scatterings of students left in the halls the view was rather bemusing. Many of them had still not yet seen the king in the flesh and were more accustomed to their defense professor scrambling around in some sort of ensemble involving a wrinkled sweater and two socks that did not come anywhere close to matching. It was obvious to all that the two men had somewhere very important to be.

As they casually strode to Merlin's bedchambers, they listened passively to the lingering conversations of students making their ways back to their respective common rooms.

Arthur personally enjoyed the two young women in red and yellow ties he had come to understand belonged to Gryffindors.

"I mean I thought Professor Emrys was hot but the king is a total ten" the shorter of the two whispered to her friend while tucking a stray piece of dirty blonde hair behind her ear.

"Lavender!" The friend exclaimed with a giggle, seemingly scandalized as she watched her teacher and his friend pass them.

Arthur glanced over to his companion in an attempt to gauge his reaction. He did not seem too excited or bothered, only a smidge uncomfortable.

"That happen a lot mate?" Arthur asked quietly with a smirk.

"Sometimes" Merlin shrugged, "I've learned to tune it out."

"Why would you want to?" Arthur teased, straightening his broad shoulders.

"They're my students! Let alone a thousand years younger than me" Merlin exclaimed, looking rather green, "there is so much wrong with that Arthur. So much."

Arthur shrugged, "I get it mate. Whenever my thoughts wander to romance I can think of no one but Gwen…."

"I'm sorry Arthur" Merlin said empathetically.

"Maybe not to you, but to me it feels as if we were together only a month ago" Arthur sighed, his bright blue eyes glazing over slightly.

"In your own mind…you were" Merlin said sadly, "this may sound selfish but, I am happy to be with you again."

Arthur cocked an eyebrow, "I never thought I'd hear you say that willingly."

"Well it's true" Merlin said with a pout, "it has been a little lonely the past millennia."

"I know mate" Arthur said, rubbing his arm. "It's been a little hard to come to terms with all of this" he gestured to everything around them, "and that you're this all powerful warlock, but if I do have to go through it with someone, I'm glad it's with you."

"Alright sappy moment over" Merlin said quickly, a small blush painting his pale cheeks, "let's get this over with before we're late." He opened the heavy door to his room and the two men strode over to the fireplace that always seemed to house a healthy flame.

Merlin handed Arthur a handful of green powder and took a heaping serving for himself. One after another the well-dressed brits disappeared into a wash of green flame.

 **XxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

"Merlin, Arthur!" a voice greeted them happily as soon as the two stepped from the fireplace.

"Hello there Sirius" Arthur greeted, giving the man a firm handshake, "how have you been doing?"

"Eh" Sirius dismissed with a wave of his hand, "enough with the formalities, have a drink! It's almost **(chrismas?)** after all, this is supposed to be a party!"

"You've been cooped up in here much too long mate" Merlin said with a snort as he caught a whiff of the fire whisky on the man's breath.

"Truer words have never been said" laughed another voice coming from Merlin's left. He smiled at the werewolf who stood just behind his shaggy friend.

"Good to see you Remus" Merlin greeted and the two embraced briefly.

"You too Merlin, and how have you been holding up Arthur?" the former professor asked, sizing the two up.

"Rather well considering I haven't left the castle in two fortnights" Arthur joked, shaking Remus's hand firmly.

"I relate!" Sirius interjected suddenly.

Merlin laughed heartily at this, "I'm sure you do mate, we should all try to come visit more often."

"Please do!" Sirius said dramatically, "I feel as if the only time I ever see people is during these blasted meetings and even then it's you three and a dozen of my old professors!"

"And Molly Wesley" Remus added sagely.

"Of course" Arthur laughed, quickly making three drinks from a tray that stood atop the fireplace.

"What about me?" Sirius pouted as Arthur handed the drinks out.

"You're not allowed to have any more until the rest of us have at least caught up with you" Arthur said lightly and took a gulp of the amber liquid filling his crystal glass. He grimaced and swallowed quickly, "how is it that modern alcohol is somehow both more tolerable and less tolerable then ale?"

"I rather miss going down to the village pub" Merlin said with a raise of his glass.

"Here here!" Arthur agreed, raising his own glass to clink against Merlin's, but it seemed as if the smile on his lips did not quiet reach his eyes. Merlin lingered on him for a moment before brushing it off and returning to his conversation with the two marauders.

The four men conversed merrily for the next hour, even dragging the infamous Molly Wesley into their banter for a few moments before she escaped to the sitting room to continue socializing with the other order members that were there. They also spoke to McGonagall for a while before she moved on to the other members that stood talking in the kitchens.

All was well for what seemed to be the first time in a long while. Each of the dozen or so order members that had chosen to attend the impromptu Christmas Party was both having a merry time and rather tipsy which is a perfect stress relieving combination.

That was until Severus Snape burst from the fireplace both out of breath and even paler then normal.

"Severus!" exclaimed Sirius, now perfectly drunk, "have a drink!"

The tall potions professor looked at his teenage nemesis with a roll of his eyes before returning his attention to the other order members who by this point had all gathered in the dining hall to see what the commotion was all about.

"What happened Professor?" asked McGonagall, reading this situation perfectly.

"I have news" Snape replied grimly, looking over each and every one of the people in front of him.

"Spill it" mumbled Sirius, who was promptly whacked on the back of the head by a certain werewolf.

"Voldemort has made a new alliance" Snape said bluntly, eyes cold.

"With who?" Molly asked, leaning into her husband who had instinctively put a comforting arm around her shoulder.

"You're not going to like it" Snape said, unconsciously glancing toward Merlin and Arthur.

"Oh don't tell me" Merlin said with a role of his eyes.

"So you knew she was back already?" Snape said cooley, wrinkling his nose.

"I had my suspicions but there was no way to be sure" Merlin replied, face expressionless.

"Dear Lord just tell us already!" Arthur yelled in exasperation, frustrated at the private exchange between the two, "don't act like the rest of us aren't in the room any…"

"Morgana" Merlin said, cutting the king off.

"What?" Arthur replied, quietly this time.

"Morgana has returned" Merlin stated, addressing the entire order.

"Your foe from legend?" asked McGonagall, studying the two boys.

"The one and only" Merlin replied bitterly. He looked over at Arthur who had remained strangely quiet.

The king had a look of utter shock painted on his face as he looked down at the ground. When he had prayed for his family to return he hadn't meant _this._ He missed his knights and his wife. He did not, however, miss one person actually related to him.

"You okay mate?" Merlin asked him quietly.

"Yeah" Arthur replied absentmindedly.

"No" Merlin said, crossing his arms and rolling his eyes. Every eye in the room was now trained on the two boy's quiet conversation.

"I just…." Arthur started, lost in thought, "why did the one person that had to return from our past life have to be someone who would be perfectly happy to see both of us dead?"

"Arthur…" Merlin said, taken aback and looking at his friend with sorrow painted on his face.

"Oh dear" Molly Wesley muttered under her breath, looking at the king with shining eyes.

"Sorry" Arthur muttered, very uncomfortable with his own display of emotion. 

"That's 'right mate" Sirius slurred, leaning on Remus who elbowed him.

"I…I miss Gwen" Arthur confessed suddenly, taking the whole order by surprise. Merlin watched his friend with misty eyes before grabbing his arm.

"Fill the rest of them in Severus" he instructed, "just catch us up later."

Snape nodded passively, turning to the rest of the order but staying silent.

"You okay?" Merlin finally asked when they entered the sitting room attached to the dining room.

"Sorry Merlin" Arthur muttered, annoying with the lack of sound coming from the dining room.

"I think they're listening to us" Merlin sighed, sharing Arthur's thoughts.

"Probably, I'm the King of Albion who can't function normally because he misses his wife. It's a little sad Merlin" Arthur laughed, but there was no humor in his tone.

"No one in there is judging you for missing Gwen Arthur" Merlin tried, looking at his friend with caring eyes.

"It's not just Gwen, Merlin!" Arthur said suddenly, "it's Percival and Lancelot and Gwaine and Leon and **(other knights)** and my father!"

Merlin looked at his king in shock, he had never expressed himself in this way before and Merlin had no idea what to do.

"I miss my life! I miss my crown and my wife and my friends Melrin!" Arthur said, now verging on tears.

"Arthur…." was all Merlin could manage as he began to tear up himself.

"I-I miss the way things used to be" Arthur finished quietly, looking away. Merlin walked over to him quickly and pulled the blonde man into a tight embrace.

"I'm sorry Arthur…I'm sorry" Merlin sobbed quietly, "I'm sorry."

Arthur simply wrapped his arms around his best friend's small torso and buried his face into his long brown locks. He had never had to deal with something this difficult and painful before, but the one comfort he had in this world was right in front of him.

"I'm okay" Arthur said finally, but the two did not let go of one and other.

"They were probably listening to that whole thing" Merlin replied.

"Probably" Arthur agreed.

"And that's absolutely mortifying" Merlin continued.

"Yes" Arthur nodded.

"I say we escape as fast as we can" Merlin proposed.

"With no eye contact" Arthur added.

"Agreed" Merlin smirked to himself.

"Agreed" Arthur finally loosened his grip.

 **XxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

Harry Potter sat perched in a windowsill, five stories above the snowy ground below him. He was wrapped in a thick wool blanket to protect him from the icy chill seeping through the thin glass and stone. The room was dark, absent of lit candles and of light from the sun had not yet passed over the trees to touch the grounds.

Harry yawned and blinked rapidly in the early morning hour. He readjusted his blanket so he could draw out his hand and reveal the flower he had hidden underneath. The pale yellow flower was in the same family as the nightshade, although this type was much less poisonous. Its delicate leaves were paper thin as they fluttered slightly in the draft from Harry's breathing. Harry had found the plant on Neville's desk last night along with extensive notes he had taken in his study of it.

Harry had no idea if his experiment would even work. He wasn't sure if the flower had died the moment he had plucked it from its plant, but he assumed it was alive until it begun to wilt. A few rays of sunlight began to shine though the fogged glass panes as the sun slowly rose higher in the pale pink sky.

The flower detected this immediately as it quickly folded in on itself, forming a shell like exterior so it was now completely protected from the outside elements. That was why Harry had it with him now. _ was a nocturnal plant, as during the day time it would curl down into a tight ball and form a protective, hard coating around itself to completely block out the UV rays of the sun. Harry quickly pulled his wand from his pocket and pointed it to the small hard ball that now sat in his other hand.

" **(open)** " he chanted, and waited to see what would happen. He was disappointed when a moment later he was still met with the small ball in his hand as if nothing had changed.

"_!" he tried again, with more force begin his words. The ball wriggled slightly, but still refused to cooperate with the sunlight that now freely shone though the panes.

"Just open already!" Harry huffed in frustration, putting all his focus on what was the flower only moments ago.

He took a deep breath and drew upon all his magic deep in his core. He felt the familiar buzz of power resonating within him and he placed his wand on the windowsill beside him, putting all his attention on the stubborn flower.

" __"_ he said, but this time his voice sounded different. The tone was deeper and the words were only whispered into the air around him. Harry felt his power engulf him as he looked at the flower.

He started suddenly as a gold wash filled his vision, disappearing as soon as it had consumed his sight.

Harry blinked rapidly to readjust his eyes and when his vision was finally clear once again, he saw the pale green stem and lace like pale petals of the flower in his hand once again.

The flower shown brilliantly in the morning sun for just a moment before shriveling up into a fine power as it's protective state had been ripped from it.

"No way" Harry muttered, pouring the dust of the flower onto the windowsill. He hadn't meant to kill the flower, but he hadn't expected a night flower to open in the sunlight either.

Harry sat on that windowsill contemplating the ramifications of his new found discovery. His mind inevitably wandered back to the conversation he had with Hermione only a few days ago.

As much as he hated to admit it, something was definitely wrong.

 **XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

 **Well this is probably the fastest I've ever written a chapter before. I guess writing for 5 hours straight on a plane really gets things done. Excuse any errors but I wrote 2/3 of this while extremely tired and I may have missed something while proof reading. Well, hope you guys enjoy and look forward to what's coming next.**


	27. What If It Had Been Different

**Chapter 27**

 **ANNOUNCEMENT: I have a poll up about how Morgana should end up in the story, I'm still making my mind up about her character development and I want to know what my readers think. Please go vote so I can hear your opinion! Thank you!**

 **Okay, so here I'm starting to take some liberties with the timeline (like I haven't already been doing that) but I realize the events that take place technically took place in like May in the canon but here but I'm making it take place in December because that's how the story is going. I know the time progression in this story may seem a little weird but I hope you all just go with it. I really had to take a step away from this story for a while. I am a full time student with a job, and I didn't have time to put as much effort into this story as I wanted to. And also, I was receiving a lot of hate in my PM's. I realize that it has taken me far too long to get a new chapter up, but I was so tired of getting hate and criticism on things I have already addressed that I almost just gave up on this story entirely. My motivation for writing is fueled off people wanting to read it, and for a while it seemed like the only comments I was getting were very negative. People have stayed out of the public comments on this one and just addressed me directly, which I appreciate, but when I get constant comments calling my writing 'immature' and 'underdeveloped' it really makes me question why I am doing this in the first place. I am still unable to find someone to help me proofread, which is fine, but I want you all to realize that I am doing this alone. This is only me. This is not a professional story. I am doing this on my own time and I will never receive recognition for any of it. Although this is fine with me, it seems that many people expect professional level stories on these sites and I know without a doubt that my story is nowhere near professional. I'm doing this for fun and for my readers so if this story or my writing style isn't for you then I suggest you find something else to read.**

 **XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

"Wow" Ron laughed, looking up into the sky as singed tests floated down around them. Large dragons made of fireworks whizzed through the winter sky and two boys with red hair flew complicated loops around their creations.

Hermione reached up and grabbed a burning paper from the air, "this is a fire hazard."

"Hermione" Harry deadpanned, "we're wizards. I think we can handle a little fire."

"Still, was this entirely necessary?" Hermione asked, turning her head back to the light show above her.

"Well they were already planning something big to get back at Umbridge, but after she got kicked out I guess they decided that 'Ministry administered tests' were just as good a target" Ron explained, smiling up at his older brothers proudly.

"Still, your mother is going to have a fit when she finds out they were never planning on finishing their seventh year" Hermione reasoned.

"I mean...she's right" Harry shrugged, "but still, it's fun while it lasts."

"I wonder what a Merlin and McGonagall going to do about all of this?"

"Celebrate?" tried Ron with a smile, to which Hermione playfully hit him with her book.

"So I guess classes are still canceled for the rest of the day?" Harry asked hopefully.

Hermione rolled her eyes, "is that all you care about?"

"Yes" Harry and Ron answered simultaneously.

"Well if we have some free time now, why don't we take the opportunity to..." Hermione began.

"If you say study for OWLS I will never speak to you again" Ron interrupted, giving his friend a glare.

"He's right 'Mione" Harry shrugged, "it's a beautiful day to be outside."

"It's bloody freezing" Hermione muttered.

"That's what makes it fun!" shouted Ron as he scooped up some snow and threw it at Hermione without warning.

"Every man for himself!" yelled Harry, and every student in earshot jumped behind anything they could find to avoid the snowballs that were suddenly speeding through the air.

"Harr-" Hermione began before being silenced with a face full of snow and turned to face Dean Thomas who quickly took cover behind his bench once again.

"Oh you did not!" she declared, diving behind the nearest divider and joining in on the spontaneous snowball fight.

In a window, four stories above the courtyard, Headmaster McGonagall watched her students throw snow while the remnants of their Ministry tests fluttered down around them.

"They're nearly adults for Merlin's sake" she shook her head.

"Oh come on Minerva, everyone has to be a child every once in a while" Professor Flitwick laughed as Draco Malfoy took an enchanted snowball right to the face.

"There's a war brewing and they want to act like children!" McGonagall defended.

"That's exactly why" Flitwick answered softly as the fire crackled in the corner.

"I don't want them to end up like so many of their families did" McGonagall said softly.

Flitwick sighed as he watched the students laugh and smile below him. He wanted to reassure his friend that everything would be alright, but he wasn't sure if he could.

"Well there's one thing that's different" he said suddenly, pointing to Lavender Brown who had teamed up with a Slytherin and were proceeding to pound Ron and Harry with dozens of magical snowballs, "even if it's just in good fun, would you have ever seen that with James Potter's generation?"

McGonagall seemed a bit lost for words as she noticed that the teams hadn't naturally divided as house versus house, but boys versus girls. To most these teams would seem completely natural, but to a Hogwarts teacher as experienced as McGonagall seeing the four houses work together to take down their own was truly startling. She watched as Harry Potter jumped up from his barricade to throw a snowball at the girls before narrowly dodging one headed straight toward his face, which only missed because Draco Malfoy had noticed and yanked him back down behind safety. She could have sworn the two boys even exchanged smiles.

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The girls celebrated as the boys eventually surrendered to their superior snow battle skills. The normally pristine snow that graced the Hogwarts courtyard was now muddied and destroyed. Walls of snow were scattered across both sides and the ground was littered with the ghosts of magical snowballs.

Although the girls had won, no side had escaped the bitter cold that was now beginning to set in. Almost everyone was soaked down to their core, and most were not dressed appropriately for the weather and activities that had just taken place.

"Harry, I'm going to head down for some butter beers if you want to join" Hermione said with pink cheeks.

"That sounds amazing" answered Harry with a smile.

So the two friends headed down along the path to Hogsmeade. Snow continued to fall from the gray sky and on any other day the weather may have seemed cold and dreary, but at that very moment Harry could not have been happier.

As soon as they reached the three broomsticks, Hermione pulled out her wand and cast quick drying spells on the two of them. It left them a bit damp, but that was highly preferable to their wet and freezing states.

"That was surprisingly...fun" Hermione laughed as the two took a seat next to each other at the bar by the raging fire.

"It felt nice to actually work together, you know?" Harry sighed.

"I agree. I don't think I've ever seen the houses work together like that before, even if it just was a snowball fight."

"It felt good to act like a kid again. Like this bloody mess around us is just a bad dream" Harry said with a melancholy smile.

"It really did. Do you think it would have all been different if Voldemort wasn't part of it all?" Hermione wondered, "do you think we could have all been friends, that we could have all grown up safe and happy?"

"I think about that a lot 'Mione..." Harry replied quietly, trailing off as a waiter took their orders.

"Two butter beers please" Hermione said and the waiter quickly brought them their desired drinks.

The two friends sipped in silence for a few moments before Hermione suddenly gasped.

"What's wrong?" Harry wondered, eyebrows knitting together.

"I completely forgot! I have a paper on the history of Ehwaz in Ancient Runes! I'm so sorry Harry I have to leave!" Hermione nearly yelled in a panic.

"Don't worry about it Hermione, I'll get the check" said Harry calmly. She thanked him profusely and rushed off, leaving her butter beer mostly full.

So Harry sat in silence, sipping his drink and watching the fireplace crackle. Normally, he hated being left alone with his thoughts, but today they seemed strangely lighthearted. What would it have been like if Voldemort had never existed? His parents would still be alive for starters, but would he still be...himself? How different would he be if he was raised by his mother and father instead of his uncle and aunt. Would he have turned out like his father, arrogant and sometimes cruel, but good at heart. Or would he have been more like his mother, quiet and studious, with fire in his soul. Harry sighed to himself, that was a question he would never get an answer to, no matter how hard he tried. His life was his life and there was nothing he could do to change that now.

"Uh, is this seat taken?" called a voice suddenly, pulling Harry out of his own mind. He looked up, and one of his eyebrows arched upwards as he saw Draco Malfoy standing awkwardly before him. "All the other seats are full." Harry looked around and noticed that the Three Broomsticks had filled almost to capacity since Hermione had left.

Realizing he had taken too long to answer Harry quickly said, "No it's empty."

"Thanks" said Draco and took a seat, and the two sat in uncomfortable silence for almost five minutes before Harry had had enough.

"What was it like for you?" he asked suddenly, keeping his eyes trained on the fire, "growing up?"

Draco looked at Harry with faint suspicion before replying, "why do you want to know?"

"Because I don't know anything about you Malfoy. I know what you want other people to see, and I know what people say about you, but I don't know anything about you." Harry replied, still refusing to look at the boy sitting next to him.

Draco sighed, "I don't know. I had my family. When I was growing up family was all that was supposed to matter to a Malfoy. Even when I was little I always had to remember that everything I did would reflect on my family. I hated it, but I guess my parents only did it because they thought it would set me and the family name up for success." Draco shifted uncomfortably, he rarely told anyone that and he had absolutely no idea why he said it to Harry. Maybe, he thought, it was because Harry really couldn't judge him. He couldn't think any less of Draco then he already did.

"I think our families fucked us all over" Harry said quietly, bitterness creeping into his voice. "All I inherited from my parents was war and some gold. No one wants any of this, yet here we are in the world our parents created and we're expected to fix all their mistakes."

Draco snorted, "Amen to that."

"I mean...I've always been 'The Boy who Lived" Harry continued, speaking his unofficial title in a mocking tone, "and there's plenty of people out there who would happily take that title from me and all the 'glory' that comes with it. But I would give my entire inheritance away to see what it would be like to just be 'Harry' for a day. To just be normal for once in my life."

"You...don't like being the chosen one?" asked Draco, finally making eye contact with the boy seated next to him.

Harry laughed, but it sounded almost hollow, "I hate it. I had to give up everything for that title, but I still didn't earn it. All I've done was not die, my parents are the ones who are real heroes, same for Nevil's parents, yet all anyone ever talks about is me and how I didn't die that one time as a baby."

"That's cynical" chuckled Draco as he took another sip from his butter beer.

"It's true" replied Harry.

"I always wondered if we would still have hated each other, you know if we were born in a different time" Draco said, lost in thought.

"Everything could have been different" Harry said quietly, looking at the silver haired boy next to him.

"I...should go." Harry said suddenly, realizing his pint was now empty. "I'll see you in class tomorrow I guess."

And with that the two boys awkwardly parted ways, unsure of what to do with the feelings that had just been exchanged. All Harry could do was continue to wonder, how could it have all been different?

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 **Alrighty, well not the longest chapter, but I'm pretty happy with it. I hope you guys enjoyed this one and I'm sorry again for the long Hiatus.**


	28. A Puzzle to be Solved

**Chapter 28**

 **Special shout out to RatherFabulous in the comments. Your review was really sweet and completely true and thank you for reminding me that the number of people that like my story outweigh the number of people that don't. I'm really glad that you guys like my stories and are willing to look past any flaws that they may have. I definitely want to go back some day soon and rewrite the first chapters. I was only like 14 when I wrote them so they make even me cringe (although all my writing makes me cringe so). I know that I'll get sidetracked if I do this before the story ends however so I guess the professional critics reading will just have to wait a little longer for me to fix all the plot holes. Also apparently almost 1000 people have decided to follow this story. I mean I can't say I understand why you like this story but thank you all for the support!**

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Harry strode through the halls, admiring the webbing of frost that graced the edges of each window. His breath left his mouth as a thick cloud of mist before dissipating into nothingness in the icy air. Even though Harry normally hated this kind of bitter cold, he always held a fondness for winter. The Dursleys had always shown a bit more humanity as soon as the red and green decorations began to decorate the shop fronts. Whether it was out of respect for the season or guilt Harry didn't know, but no matter what the cause he always appreciated a small thread of kindness as the holiday season rolled in.

Despite this he still shivered as the cool air quickly sank through his robes. The thick stone walls around him did nothing to insulate the castle. Every year he wondered why the teachers never cast heating charms on the halls, but it was probably too much trouble. The charms would last less than a day, and it would take hours each morning to recast them on each of the many halls in the castle.

Still, a little warmth would be nice.

Ever since the nightmares started, Harry had begun to enjoy the early morning strolls he took to calm himself before he had to officially begin his day. Even if he was always a bit more sluggish throughout classes, Harry appreciated the time to think. It always cleared his mind slightly to sit in the cool halls and watch the fiery waves of the sun slowly creep up from the distant horizon. It was one of the few beautiful things he had been able to witness as a child and the flames of orange and pink leaping up from the tree tops still brought him the comfort of a new day.

Shivering heavily, Harry continued to walk down the long corridor before turning a corner and becoming significantly warmer. He looked around for the source of the comfort and noticed a large oak door which stood slightly ajar a few feet away from him. Curious, Harry peaked into the well lit room and saw Professor Emrys sitting at his desk and reading a rather dense book. The raging fire from the opposite wall seemed to be the source of the glorious warmth that Harry was enjoying.

"Mr. Potter" Merlin said suddenly, looking up from his book. Harry jumped slightly, knocking the door open and stood in the frame sheepishly. How the professor could tell he was standing there he had no idea, but he decided that it was best not to think too hard about it. It was probably his teeth chattering that gave him away.

"Come in Mr. Potter, it must be cold out in the hall" Merlin said kindly, with a welcoming smile he reserved for only his favorite students.

"Oh so he reads minds now too" Harry muttered under his breath as he entered the office and pushed the door closed behind him.

"No just simple deduction" Merlin replied offhandedly. Harry froze in his steps and looked at the professor.

"S-sorry Professor" he said in reply, sheepishly looking around. Merlin simply laughed in reply and motioned for Harry to sit in the chair that faced his desk.

"Take a seat Mr. Potter, I've actually been meaning to speak to you before the students leave for Christmas break tomorrow" Merlin said gently.

"Uh, sure Professor" Harry asked skeptically.

"Nothing...good or bad particularly...just curiosity" Merlin said offhandedly as Harry took a seat across from him, "I'm sure you remember when you fell ill a few months ago."

"Yeah, Madam Pomphrey said it was some sort of magical virus? She said I was lucky there wasn't permanent damage to my magical core."

Merlin's eyebrow went up and his eyes widened slightly in surprise. They were keeping the truth from the boy? He figured Dumbledore believed he had a good reason for this, but he still believed Harry should know what was happening to him.

"Am I wrong?" Harry asked suspiciously, wary of the expression and silence that followed his answer.

"No, no...but I am a bit worried that there may have really been some damage to your core" Merlin answered, crossing his hands on his desk.

Harry crossed his arms and leaned back into the cushy chair he was seated in, "what are you talking about...sir?"

"I have noticed a few...instances where it seems as if you've had a few major bursts of magical energy" Merlin said seriously, looking the nervous young boy before him in the eye.

Harry felt as if he had been doused in ice cold water, his grip tightened on the wooden armrests and he acutely felt the rough wood digging into his clammy palms. Merlin watched his reaction closely, noticing as the color quickly drained from his face and his entire body tensed, as if Harry was getting unconsciously ready to run from the room. Merlin felt a bit of surprise building up in the back of his mind. He thought someone would have talked to the boy about his outbursts by now, it wasn't as if the incidents were exactly private.

"I don't mean to pry, but have you spoken to anyone about these episodes yet Mr. Potter?" Merlin asked, trying to take on a calming tone.

Harry looked upon the teacher that sat across from him warily. He studied the man's thin face, trying to find any sort of motivation behind his words. Yet Merlin's face was nearly stoic save for his eyes in which he only saw kindness and worry. After an uncomfortably long silence, Harry finally answered.

"I don't know exactly who's noticed, but Hermione is the only one that's said anything" Harry said, trying to sink even farther back into the chair.

Merlin had to consciously keep his face passive. Was no one in this school even paying attention? He couldn't imagine what kind of confusing fear Harry was experiencing as he slowly lost control of his magic, and none of his teachers had even a second to ask him if everything was alright. Merlin felt the anger slowly build in his stomach until he was silently fuming. He needed to do something to help Harry.

"Are you alright Harry?" he finally asked, still unable to think clearly.

"I'm fine sir" Harry answered, looking everywhere but his teacher's face, "really don't worry about it, I'm sure everything is fine, I've just been really strung up lately."

Merlin raised an eyebrow and they boy's sudden denial, and watch him fidget uncomfortably from across his desk. Taking a deep breath, he decided that he was going to get nowhere with Harry while he was this uncomfortable and defensive.

"I'm going to believe you for now Harry, but if this happens again please don't hesitate to come to me. I'm worried this might be a symptom of a much larger problem" Merlin said, in his kindest yet most authoritarian voice.

"Um, yes of course sir. I need to pack my chest; can I go now?" Harry said, voice trembling slightly.

As soon as Merlin gave him a farewell smile, Harry bolted from the room as fast as he could without running. As soon as the heavy door closed behind him, the smile slipped from Merlin's face. Something was seriously wrong with the boy who lived.

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The wind howled as it pushed through the branches of the bare trees in an isolated forest in northern England. A small cabin sat tucked away against the side of a steep hill, windows glowing slightly from the lights that flickered inside. Although the cabin seemed small and rickety from the outside, the inside was heavily charmed to appear lavish and almost warm. Yet, an aura floated around the area that made even the bravest of animals skitter away as soon as they ventured close. A young woman paced back and forth across the entrance as she spoke to a dark figure seated across the room.

"Do you want the boy dead?" Morgana asked, slowly, measuring the reaction of the man across the room.

"Eventually" he answered slowly, "but for now he is useful to us."

"Not if we can't break his mental barriers" she answered, crossing her arms.

"Not yet, but he can't hold strong forever my dear and when he makes one mistake..." he trailed off for effect, "they must know about the department of secrets, otherwise that fool Dumbledore wouldn't make the effort to protect the boy's mind to the extent that he is."

"You underestimate Merlin" Morgana replied dangerously, eyes narrowing.

"Don't doubt me Morgana" Voldemort replied curtly, "that pest is doing nothing but interfering with my plans that are long in place. We simply need him out of the picture."

Morgana stopped pacing for a moment and looked at the man before her incredulously, Voldemort had come up against the most powerful warlock in history and he simply wanted him 'out of the picture'.

Reading the look on her face, the Dark Lord did more to sate the witch, "his magic may have stood the test of time, but that doesn't mean his mind has. _No one_ can stay sane from a millennia of nomadic wandering."

Morgana flashed back to her final battle with Merlin and the pure hatred that flashed in his eyes before he finally struck her down. A warm bubble of hatred formed in the pit of her stomach as the long held feelings she used to feed off of once again began to rise to the surface of her subconscious. Yet, as soon as she remembered the irrational hatred, other memories long repressed came leaking through the crack in her resolve.

She remembered a single night, when she had woken up in a cold sweat. She had sat in bed, in tears that Gaius's serum had failed once again. Her dream that night had been particularly chilling as she had watched Arthur's life slowly drain out of his eyes until he lay still and unmoving. She had no idea what would prompt her subconscious to concoct such a thing, but even the fading memory of it shook her to her core. Yet, then she noticed Gwen sat in the corner of her room, slumped over in the uncomfortable chair she hated.

"My Lady?" she had slurred sleepily as she suddenly woke up to the sound of Morgana's sobbing.

"Gwen? Why...are you still here?" Morgana had asked, incredulous that her friend was still waiting on her.

"You said that the nightmares had been getting worse lately, so I figured that you'd want some company if you woke up" Gwen answered simply.

Morgana felt the tears spring to her eyes as she watched the fire crackle behind the back of the snake-like man in her company. She had died hating Gwen, hating her position and hating the betrayal she had felt. But her best friend had just been misinformed, tricked by her half brother into loving him.

"Morgana" Voldemort said curtly, trying to snap the witch in front of him out of her sudden burst of emotion, "can you take care of Merlin?"

Morgana's hands tightened into fists under her robes as she felt the cracks in her resolve weaken, "you won't need to worry about him" she said coldly, any warmth that had suddenly entered her eyes suddenly replaced by her normal thirst for revenge.

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 **Also I want you all to know that I didn't have a plot outline when I started writing this. I just...started writing and I think that hurt me a lot when I started trying to make things cohesive. I do have an outline now for like the next 10 or so chapters, but I'm still unsure of how this story will really end. I mean I have the main ideas but other than that I'm still missing some parts. If any of you have any ideas that you would like me to consider incorporating I read literally every comment so please just leave them there and hopefully I can get some great ideas from y'all (credited of course).**


	29. How Does one Save the World?

**Chapter 29**

 **Alright here we go. We're getting towards the end guys. Maybe 10 or 15 more chapters. It's crazy that this story has basically followed me through high school, and I'd like to get it done before I graduate. But you know me 10 chapters could mean 3 months or another 3 years. I'm happy you all have stuck with me through all this and I hope you'll tune in again to a much more polished story when I rewrite it. I love you guys and thank you for the support I've received over the last 3 years. Also I'm sorry this chapter is very dialogue heavy and short, but I really wanted to end it where I did.**

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A blast of cold swept suddenly into the entryway as the door to Number 12 Grimauld Place was opened. A few flakes of snow drifted past the doorway as the warmth from the raging fireplace struggled to keep pace with the chilled draft that was now suddenly enveloping the room.

"Who's there?" called a loud but warm voice from the kitchen, as the delicious fragrances wafting through the doorway made his stomach grumble angrily.

Molly Weasley emerged and smiled at the man who stood in the door frame, "Merlin, it's good to see you! Close that door will you? It's frightfully chilly out there."

"Nice to see you too Molly" Merlin replied with a kind smile. Over the last week he found himself spending much of his time in the decrepit old house sharing memories with Remus and Sirius. It was good to have friends that both he and Arthur could share a pint with, but every once and a while the similarities he drew to his escapades with the knights of the Round Table at the town cavern caused his heart to ache a bit. Of course he had gotten to know the many other inhabitants of Sirius's family home much better as well as a result of his frequent visits. Ron and Hermione seemed to have warmed up to his presence outside of school and now regularly conversed with him about his past lives. Of course Hermione's questions were a bit more stimulating then Ron's, but he enjoyed speaking to the boy all the same.

The only member of the house who did not welcome him with warm and open arms was Harry Potter. After their conversation towards the end of the semester the Boy who Lived was very wary around his defense professor. Harry would make an excuse to retire to his room when Merlin was visiting and even if he did manage to speak to the boy, he received vague and evasive conversation. He realized he only had a professional relationship with the boy, but he assumed that Harry would realize that he was only trying to look out for his best interests by this point.

Today's visit was a bit unplanned. Merlin was supposed to go into London with Arthur and show him the city, but McGonagall had warned them against it. It was dangerous for either of them to go into heavily trafficked areas with the interest certain people at the ministry had shown in their removal from Hogwarts. Merlin, although rather disappointed, had to agree with the acting Headmistress. He was acting as the only barrier between Hogwarts and the Ministry now that both Dumbledore and Umbridge were gone, and he knew Fudge was growing increasingly desperate to know what was happening at the school.

As Merlin entered the living room he noticed that Harry had not yet been able to flee due to the unplanned nature of his call. He felt a small pang of guilt as he slowly corned the boy into conversation.

"Good morning Mr. Potter" Merlin said warmly, trying to give Harry his kindest smile.

Harry looked up from the book he had been reading, rather startled, "oh, uh good morning Professor."

Harry looked ready to bolt so Merlin decided to approach him as a friend, rather than a guardian, "what's that you're reading?"

Harry closed the book and shifted a little and it was only then that Merlin realized the book wasn't a book at all, it was a photo album.

"It's just some pictures" Harry answered awkwardly, trying to avoid eye contact with the warlock. Merlin could see a pair of green eyes and a man with fitful tufts of black hair peeking out from a few of the pictures, Merlin paused for a second before taking a seat a few feet away from Harry on the couch and faced towards the raging fire. Harry looked up again, a little surprised but he seemed less like a cornered animal, which Merlin took as a good sign.

"You know; I never really knew my father" Merlin said suddenly to break the heavy silence that had enveloped the room.

Harry looked a bit surprised at this, "oh….uh…"

Merlin smiled a bit sadly, "sorry was that too personal?"

"No….it's just that it's kind of hard to imagine….you with parents" Harry stuttered, looking a bit embarrassed, "you know being the most powerful warlock in history and all."

Merlin chucked at this, "I suppose so. However, I do….or did."

"So, what happened?" Harry asked and Merlin's eyes widened slightly, he wasn't expecting the young Gryffindor to reciprocate the conversation.

"Well, before Arthur was born, my father lived under his rule in Camelot, that was until King Uther's wife died due to a bit of a…magical mishap." Harry nodded intently, actually interested in Merlin's stories of old for once.

"That loss cemented Uther's hate for magic. So he tried to chase magic out of Camelot."

"So your father was magic?" Harry asked.

"Yes, he did nothing to Uther personally, but the fact that he possessed magic caused Uther to try to hunt him down. The only way for him to survive was to flee our to my village. But Uther's forces soon tracked him down, forcing him to run away forever leaving my mother behind, who undenounced to him, was pregnant" Merlin continued, watching the boy's expression. He knew he was telling the story a but awkwardly, but it was still hard for him to fully understand the path Bailinor had taken after his persecution.

"Many years later a vengeful dragon attacked Camelot to get revenge on Arthur's father. In a last ditch attempt to stop the dragon Arthur and I searched out a man named Bailinorwho was rumored to be the last of a magical subset" he paused for dramatic effect, "the Dragon Lords."

"I've never heard of that before" Harry commented, a bit confused.

"Yes well, it was nearly a dead magic at that point" Merlin explained, "but before we left my mentor, a man named Gaius, informed me that this man we were trying to find was my father."

Harry's eyes widened for a moment as he watched a far off look envelop his teacher's face. Merlin's hands clasped together as he fell back into his memories and into a life he had lived long ago.

"Why hadn't your mentor ever mentioned that he knew who your father was?" Harry asked after a few minutes, his voice quiet with curiosity.

"Of that, I can never be completely sure" Merlin sighed, "I believe he never wanted me to hunt out my father. If Uther ever came to understand the deep connection I had to magic, not only would he separate me from Arthur, but he would probably try to have me executed." Harry looked as if he was biting his tongue, trying to hold back a thousand questions so Merlin decided to press on.

"Eventually we found Bailinor, but by that point in our journey we had been attacked and Arthur was rather seriously injured. Bailinor agreed to heal Arthur, rather grudgingly I might add, but tried to get rid of us as soon as I attempted to explain our mission to him. He hated Uther and Camelot, having felt betrayed by both for the 19 years he had spent in isolation. I had only ever seen that kind of malice on Uther's face before and it came as a shock to me that, that kind of deep rooted hate could belong to a man who was also my father" Merlin explained, still keeping his eyes fixed on the fireplace that crackled in front of him. Harry assumed that the man was not uncomfortable as his fidgeting had stopped, but simply lost in very distant memories.

"At first he outright refused to help us and Arthur and I left. It was hard meeting my father for the first time and after that I thought I would only ever see him as a coward. But he surprised me" Merlin stopped for a moment and took a rather unsteady breath, "he came after Arthur and I, telling us that he had changed his mind. And then I told him….that he was my father."

"What did he do?" Harry finally asked, completely enthralled in his teacher's tale.

"He told me he didn't know how to have a son, and" Merlin paused again, "I told him I didn't know how to have a father."

"Oh" Harry replied rather dumbly.

"But on our way back to Camelot we were attacked by enemies in the forest and during the battle…." Merlin had to stop for a third time, his back hunched and hands clasped together as he squeezed his eyes shut, perhaps to stifle tears, "and Bailinor was killed."

Silence consumed the room as Harry felt his eyes widen, and he was suddenly unable to think of a word to say. He just watched the most powerful, man in wizarding history open up to him in a way that no one really had.

"Did you defeat the dragon?" Harry finally asked, his voice almost a whisper.

Merlin chucked, "I did. Turns out that the abilities of a Dragon Lord are passed from father to son…when the father dies. So after Bailinor was gone, I became the last Dragon Lord."

"I don't think I ever heard that story about 'Merlin the great' before" Harry joked, a bit uncomfortable.

"I'm actually not sure if I've ever told it before. I never really told Arthur that the bitter old hermit we found was my father" Merlin said quietly, eyes once again trained on the fire.

"I mean, I guess I get it" Harry said, taking Merlin by surprise, "being special is rather awful when it comes down to it."

Merlin actually laughed, "I guess we would both know."

Harry nodded before sighing, "I just don't….don't want people to get hurt. I guess this whole fight is something I was destined for but, I dragged everyone into the danger along with me." Merlin was a bit surprised at this admission, but found himself smiling sadly.

"Harry, most of these people would have been in the same positions they are in today even without knowing you. All you've done is give them hope" Merlin answered, finally looking the young wizard in the eye.

Harry sat pensively as he took Merlin's statement in, "what do you mean hope?"

"You're someone Voldemort hasn't been able to kill. That's more than any of them can claim. That's why you're a hero for something you don't even remember."

"Well if I can give them that, then I guess I'll get over the inconveniences" Harry suddenly said, resolve in his eyes, "and if it comes down to it, I'll destroy every single one of them before they get to someone I love….again." A small breeze seemed to flash through the room, before Harry rose at Mrs. Weasly's call for lunch. But Merlin's appetite had disappeared rather suddenly. Yet wasn't the thin bloodlust in the boy's eyes, nor his threat of martyrdom that had stolen it away.

No, because when Harry had made his heroic declaration, his eyes grew cold, and Merlin could have sworn he had seen a flash of gold.

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 **Okay I know I know literally the worst cliff hanger ever. But good news, my Christmas break started today so hopefully I'll have the next chapter up in the next few days. I'm writing this down so I actually have to do it. Please yell at me in the comments if I don't. I love reading them all.**


	30. A bit of Peace Comes With a Smile

**Chapter 30**

 **I realize the last chapter was like 90% dialogue, which I know can be annoying, so I added a holiday present at the beginning of this chapter. I also think this is the fastest I've ever gotten a chapter out; I hope you all enjoy.**

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Harry felt strange after his talk with his Defence Professor. It was not normal for people to open up to him as Merlin had and from the look on the man's face, his candid words had surprised him just as much as it had Harry. Yet, it wasn't his gut wrenching story about his father that had put Harry in a strange mood, it was the few words the two had exchanged afterwards. He had never told an adult how he truly felt about his part in this war and Harry couldn't tell if the confession had made him nervous or relieved. But despite the weight of the world pressing down around him, he couldn't help but feel a little lighter.

Maybe it was this strange moment of peace that led Harry to his next thoughts.

The sun had already set and the only light in the living room came from the lights strung up inside the normally depressing home. Molly Weasley had a tendency to brighten up any room she walked into, and she had managed to embody that feeling with her extensive christmas decorations. He sat around with Hermione, Ron, Fred, George, and Ginny while they played exploding snap and chatted, seeming like normal teenagers even if it was only for a night.

Harry could only smile when their game quickly devolved as soon as Hermione and Ginny banded together to expose the twin's rather obvious cheating. Of course that just led to less obvious cheating and Hermione quickly excused herself from playing to keep a full time watch on the two trouble makers. Fred and George found this all rather amusing and spent most of the night locked in a battle of wits versus imagination with the bushy haired witch. Harry, Ron, and Ginny found themselves paying less and less attention to the game at hand as well due to the fact that watching the other three compete was much more entertaining.

It was only when Hermione noticed that the twins had been enchanting the cards to give only them pairs that she finally shut them down for good, grabbing Fred's wand and pressing it to the card's held boy's hands causing them all to spontaneously combust and leaving the red haired twins a bit singed. The three spectators in the room all found this rather hilarious, mostly because they had never seen the two boys blush as much as they were in that moment.

As his sides began to ache a bit, he glanced over at Ginny who was sat to his left on a moth eaten pillow. Her light red hair was pushed back behind her ears as she started to hiccup from a lack of air. She took a deep breath which calmed her laugh a bit, but did nothing to placate her shining red cheeks. Her light brown eyes shown with joyful tears and her slightly horse laugh suddenly overtook every other sound in the room.

Harry felt a small tug in his abdomen as he watched his best friend's little sister double over in laughter and he felt a small smile tug at his lips.

After they had put the remainder of the cards away, everyone melted back into their own conversations. Harry glanced over to watch Ron and Hermione having a heated debate about the importance (or lack of) muggle studies, especially when it came to pure-blooded witches and wizards. As he watched his two best friends grow increasingly frustrated with one and other he found himself wondering how in hell the two of them hadn't gotten together yet. In the last few months they had been spending time with one and other without Harry more frequently then had been normal in their last four years of school. Of course Harry was beginning to feel rather left out, but half of the time he found that being around the two was a bit more awkward then was worth it. He knew it was not intentional but sometimes he felt very intrusive when he was with the two of them.

Because of this he had been spending more and more time with Neville, Luna, and especially Ginny. He felt like a bit a prat that he had not tried to get to know Neville sooner, but he was happy he was doing so now. However his attentions were starting to drift farther away from his other friends and more to the red haired girl who was exchanging devious whispers with her brothers to his left. The red tinge had not left her pale cheeks whether remaining from the hearty laugh she had earlier or the almost stifling temperature of the room, Harry found he rather liked the look of it.

Growing tired Harry found his eyes drooping a bit as he leaned back against the couch. Half asleep, his thoughts began to wander to a place it never really had before; the future.

His mind suddenly transported him to a porch, sat in the middle of a impossibly green field on a cloudless day. He saw Ron and Hermione next to him laughing with smiles that showed none of the strange rivalry he had seen in the living room only moments ago. Turning his head, he saw Ginny smiling with the same tinge to her cheeks that had quickly become one of his unconscious's favorite sights.

A small group of children ran around in front of the four of them, playing a game of tag. Most of them were a bit non distinct, but he could very clearly see a little boy with a familiar mess of black hair and shining brown eyes. As much as his rational thoughts told him this scene was impossible his unconscious was happy to humor Harry, at least for the night.

As Harry drifted further into sleep and his fantasy turned to dream, he smiled unconsciously at one of the first pleasant dreams he had enjoyed in almost a month. Unbenounced to him, a certain red headed witch was watching this smile carefully and found herself smiling in return.

 **XxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

Christmas passed without incident and Harry was able to bond more with his godfather and spend time with his second family. As they returned to Hogwarts, Harry found the familiar doubts about his future creeping back into his mind. Although he caught his thoughts drifting to Ginny more and more. Despite his worries however, months passed without incident and in a blink of an eye he found himself walking through the halls one morning watching the month old snow that still covered the grounds slowly begin to melt in the spring sunlight. However despite the lack of traumatizing adventures, the outside world seemed determined to remind Harry of the many issues he had left to solve.

Nearly every day now the Daily Profit would publish a smear piece on known or suspected Order members, at Fudge's paranoid insistence no doubt. It truly bothered Harry how corruptible wizarding media was. Although many members of other houses had begun to give him rather unforgiving stares in the halls, the Gryffindor's stood by his claim of Voldemort's return. Much of the student body had stood by his claims at first but it was becoming suspicious in their minds that it was March and Voldemort had not made a single appearance. Harry knew they were only parroting the words their parents wrote in their letters, but it still hurt that their faith only lasted a few months.

Across the still chilled castle, Merlin was dusting himself off as he stepped out of the fireplace in his office, Arthur following close behind. The situation with the Ministry was becoming more dire by the hour and even the great king was finally beginning the realize the full extent of what was happening in the british wizarding government. Arthur Weasley's position at the ministry was becoming rather precarious as he gained more malicious scrutiny at work and many of the other members were beginning to feel the wrath of the Minister's paranoia as well.

Surprisingly he and Minerva had found a bit of a safe haven at Hogwarts. Almost a month ago a tell all piece on the actions of Dolores Umbridge had been published in the Quibbler, at the insistence of Luna Lovegood he was sure. Although the publication was more obscure, the story had gained infamy very quickly and many prominent wizarding families were very disturbed by what they had read. Merlin never thought he would thank the wealthy families that had corrupted the Ministry for protecting him from the increasing scrutiny that Fudge was trying to place on the wizarding school. He supposed much of this may have come from the scars some parents had seen on their children when they had gone home for the holidays. The Minister could not cover up damning evidence such as the words "I shall not interrupt" that were forever branded on a second year's arm.

The second miracle Merlin had been thanking a higher power for was the fact that his secret identity had somehow remained intact over the last six months. He was sure that many of the parents were aware of who he was, or had at least a vague idea, but most of them were so put out with the Ministry at the moment that they refused to discuss it with anyone outside the school's circle.

Despite this, he knew that someone in the ministry had to be close to finding out the truth. Yet, the Minister of Magic seemed to have created his own downfall. As much as the rest of his underlings may have known rumors about Hogwarts's Defence Professor, at this point it seemed unlikely that anyone would clue him in. His meeting with Fudge a few months ago had proved to him and those working closest with him that the Minister was a very mentally unstable man at the moment.

Still, as Merlin and Arthur walked into the Great Hall the smile was hard to keep off his face. House lines seemed to have continued to break down as students had increasingly chosen to sit at house tables beside their own either to discuss projects or to simply talk to their friends. He had yet to see any Gryffindors at the Slytherin table, or vise versa, but he supposed that he couldn't expect an act of God.

The tensions between students had decreased exponentially since Umbridge had been forcibly removed from the school. There was nothing like a common enemy, and a common secret to bring people together.

Ginny Weasley laughed loudly at something Luna Lovegood had said, and some of the other Ravenclaws found themselves joining in. With the lessening tensions between houses, many Hogwarts students found themselves with more friends then they were used to. Only having around 30 other children in a year, and sometimes only 8 or so in a house sorely limited opportunities for friendship but as those barriers dissolved it became almost strange of a clique of students to consist of only one house.

Harry stood up and walked over to the Ravenclaw table to join Ginny and Luna, and he saw that Neville was not far behind him. Ron and Hermione had gotten lost in another stupid argument once again, and Harry did not have the energy to deal with them at the moment.

He found himself sat in between Ginny and Anthony Goldstein, a Ravenclaw prefect that had been one of the first to sign up for Dumbledore's Army. He found himself much more jovial in his new seat as he bantered with Ginny and listened to Luna describe the newest creature her father had discovered. Ravenclaws had gained a bit of respect for the Quibbler after the story about Umbridge had been posted. Many of the smartest students at Hogwarts were starting to realize how corrupt the wizarding world had become.

"What do you think Harry?" Ginny asked suddenly, drawing Harry out of his thoughts.

"Sorry what?" he replied, a bit sheepishly.

"Do you think it was wrackspurts that stole Luna's trainers?" she asked, giving some of the seventh years at the end of the table a bit of a pointed look.

"I have no idea, but it seems that the wrackspurts seem to unfairly target your things Luna" he said, a bit of a mischievous grin growing on his face.

Luna looked a bit pensive for a moment as she digested Harry's words, "Harry I believe you're right" her face lit up and her dreamy smile grew wide, "I should trap my things to catch one!"

"You know what Luna? That's a great idea" Ginny replied enthusiastically, "stop those little buggers from bothering you so much." She smiled at Harry and the two shared a bit of a chuckle as the seventh years glared at them. After a moment or two, Ginny broke the eye contact to say something to a third year across the table from her, but Harry couldn't miss the slight pink on her face as she turned away. He cursed himself inwardly as his own cheeks heated to match hers. He was suddenly as uncomfortable at the Ravenclaw table as he had been with Ron and Hermione.

 **XxXxXxXxXxXx**

 **Okay a bit of fluff in this chapter. What can I say it's christmas eve tomorrow, I'm not feeling angst at the moment. I hope you guys enjoyed the way I wrote this one. There was just something about writing Harry this time that didn't give me much room for dialogue. I really like writing Ginny and I'm finally at the point where I can start to include to see her more so I hope y'all will look forward to seeing her more in future chapters.**


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